Bad Dog
by CanaanAlphardForever
Summary: Krista nearly hits a dog with her car during a storm and takes it home, only to find that it's not just a dog, but a person named Ymir seemingly stuck within a curse. YmirxKrista. Yuri. AU.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I'm going to be uploading at the same time as Turbotail88 with Against The Tide, so expect a new chapter every three days. Posting this first chapter is just a day late because I didn't have access to the internet when the first chapter of Against the Tide was posted. There is a lot of research and information I've added into this but there are instances where I had to make a myth up, so I will put little notes in to let you know what I have made up. Everything else (like Norse mythology and such) is factual information. This story is inspired by the song 'Bad Dog' by Neon Hitch. Give it a listen. Alright, first and only author's note aside (hopefully this will be the only A/N), I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I have.

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Chapter 1:

Rain pattered noisily on the overhead windows, plopping against and tapping the glass hard enough to send a peaceful drone of rapid drips through the partially silent room. There were soft murmurs here and there but most remained quiet in favour of focusing and listening to the bespectacled woman speaking strongly with intelligent words and over exaggerated hand movements. The woman, with shoulder length brown hair tied up, walked back and forth as she spoke.

"Now, people, can I hear your opinions?" The woman paused in her pacing and faced the others expectantly, hands clasped together behind her back, waiting. There was no response and first, but the moment the woman raised her hand to choose a victim, someone spoke up.

"Hanji-sensei, are you always this energetic in the afternoon?"

The students all took a collective breath together, not out of shock but mainly to stop the tide of laughter. This was a daily occurrence, causing some students to even roll their eyes and sigh in resignation.

"Hmmm…" Hanji gripped her chin thoughtfully, properly pondering the question before turning back to the asker. "Well, Jean, that isn't a question of relevance, but I do feel it fair to answer you regardless." The class shifted and a few students giggled while others chuckled and leaned back in their chairs to watch. "No, I am not always as energetic in the afternoon. In fact, I'm more energetic during the night. I think it has something to do with my obsession and love for all things weird and dark. Today however, it is raining and filling me with wet appreciation." Some of the gutter heads in the class snickered. "Next time try to stay on topic," Hanji locked eyes with Jean, unnerving the boy with her piercing gaze. "Understood, Jean?"

He swallowed. "H-hai, sensei!" Marco, sitting faithfully beside Jean, shook his head in pity and gave his friend a comforting pat on the back.

Hanji broke into a cheerful grin and clapped her hands together. "Okay, students! That's it for today. Don't forget about your assignments due for Friday. Class dismissed."

Students broke into soft chatter as they collected their books and stationary and left the class. Hanji Zoe, long-time teacher at Rose University, specializing in journalism, literature and all forms of writing, watched her students leave with a fond smile. Besides the few smart mouths, they were a group of good kids.

"Hanji-sensei?" A soft voice spoke up and Hanji turned and watched her top student, Krista Renz approach and stop beside her desk.

"Ah, Krista! What can I do for you?" Hanji sat down on the corner of her desk and leaned her elbow on her leg crossed over the other, chin resting in her palm.

Krista smiled at her favourite teacher. "Sensei, about the assignment." Krista began and continued to ask questions on the few things she had wanted to know. As Hanji answered Krista nodded her head and focused intently. When they were done and Krista had taken enough notes Hanji sighed and packed her things, preparing to finally leave. The little blonde had a tendency to keep her later than usual with her queries and concerns with the work. She was by far the best, most dedicated student Hanji had ever had.

"Thank you, sensei. I really appreciate your help. I'm sorry for keeping you late again."

"Nonsense!" Hanji exclaimed and gave Krista a hearty pat on her back. The blonde coughed at the sudden slap and nearly stumbled forward. "You are the most dedicated student I have ever taught. Keep me as late as you want!" The teacher laughed loudly and rustled Krista's hair.

The blonde simply sighed as she ran a hand through her hair to return it to some order. She followed Hanji out of the class and waved goodbye. Hanji watched Krista walk off towards the parking lot.

"What a great kid." Hanji commented to herself and started off for her own car.

Krista ran the earlier conversation with her teacher through her head as she approached her car and then climbed in. Her class had been assigned with creating a fictional story on which to write a report. It had to be something with logic and sense, but could encompass the imagination as long as it had an explanation and origin that made sense. It could be based on real events or events made up. The subject was broadly open for each student to decide on whatever they wanted to 'report'.

Krista had been worried about the timeline, since she had yet to think of a proper topic. It was so open that there were too many options to choose from. Hanji had assured her that Krista had the determination to finish it within the week. They had also discussed a wide range of topics Krista could use.

Unfortunately Hanji was known for her incredibly weird imagination and came up with several peculiar ideas.

One of them had been an apocalypse based timeline where earth became overrun by giants who were mindless and desired the flesh of humans, causing mankind to build great walls to preserve their population, survive the near end of the world and keep these giants away.

Krista had shivered at that.

With a lot more thought Krista was sure she would come up with something. There had to be something that she would feel inspired enough over to write about.

Krista heaved a worried sigh and manoeuvred her car out of the parking lot and into traffic. The rain had let up to mere drizzling when she had left class but now it was pouring again. The clouds in the sky were dark and angry. Water pelted the streets and cars so hard that it was difficult to see traffic properly

Krista put her window wipers on and hoped the rain would let up soon so that she could get home without that much difficulty. She made sure to stay attentive and watched the road from all angles. She rode slowly and stuck to following the tail lights in front of her.

The rain didn't seem to let up at all and halfway through her ride home it started pouring down even harder. The car's automatic window wipers whipped about madly, prompted to move faster due to the heavier pelting of rain. Krista was thankful for modern technology because with the stress of the blurry road and trying to stay in the right lane she wasn't sure if she would have been able to remove even one hand from the wheel.

The little blonde shivered at the cold and reached out to switch the car heater on. A second after turning it on a sudden tightness gripped her stomach and she sat up straight, eyes snapping back to the road.

Just in time.

Krista gasped as something suddenly bolted out from between the bushes by the side of the road and slid into the line of traffic. Krista slammed down on the breaks and by pure miracle managed to stop her car just in time. With the headlights on Krista could partially see what had jumped out in front of her car.

It was a dog, and it looked terrified.

Without a thought Krista jumped out of the car and rushed over to the dog. It was still raining hard so Krista was drenched to the bone from the second she had left the car. Upon reaching the shivering canine the blonde knelt down in front of it and tentatively reached out with a hand. She wasn't sure if the dog was friendly or not and wanted to take absolute caution.

The dog didn't flinch or move, it barely blinked as her hand moved closer and eventually soft fingers grazed against the animal's nose. It blinked and focused on Krista. The blonde sucked in a breath at the intelligence she saw in those eyes and worried that the dog had snapped out of its shock and would snap at her. It didn't.

Blaring horns sounded behind her from angry drivers held up by her car. Krista swallowed and considered her options. She couldn't just leave the dog there; it looked so confused and lost.

Mind made up, Krista managed to pick the big dog up and hurried back into her car. She let it down across the backseat and returned to the front, put her car into drive and made the final stretch back to her house. When she finally made it she parked inside of her garage and hopped out of the car.

"It's alright," she said soothingly as she picked the dog up once more and carried it inside. "I won't hurt you." It was beginning to worry her that the dog had barely reacted to anything since the moment it had frozen in the road. Was it still in shock?

Before taking care of herself Krista rushed around to find a towel for the dog and started a fire in the fireplace. She brought the canine there and sat down beside it, towel in hand.

"Let's get you all dried up and then I'll get cleaned up myself before getting us some dinner, alright, uh…" Krista leaned down to check and straightened with a smile, "girl?"

The dog simply sat there, staring quietly into the fire. Krista took that as a good sign and went to work on drying the dog's soft, brown fur. Now that it was quiet and dry Krista took her time to examine the dog as she dried her.

She was a beautiful husky, white on the underside with brown fur on the top. When drying the dog's face Krista noted that she had really pretty blue eyes. Her tail was fluffy and just as soft, but it remained still and unmoving.

"I wonder what happened to you girl. What's gotten you so traumatized?" Krista knew asking wouldn't get her an answer, but she couldn't resist. It had been so long since she had had another living creature in her home this time of the day, other than her friends that occasionally came to visit.

"Alright, you're mostly dry now. Just sit here by the fire to dry properly while I get in the shower. I'll be quick." Krista gave the husky a gentle scratch behind the ear and stood up to leave. When she turned around before leaving the room she caught the dog staring at her. It was another unnerving gaze that should never be on an animal, but it was, and the dog was staring straight at her.

Krista pushed her worries to the side and decided that if it had wanted to eat her it would have already. It seemed to have been through a lot to have been so still, especially for an animal. The blonde went into her room, walked into the joint bathroom and stripped in seconds. Unlike her usual self she messily discarded the clothes on the floor as she went and turned the nozzles of the shower on. Once the water was warm enough she removed the elastic from her hair and stepped in.

Krista sighed blissfully when the hot water beat down on her tense shoulders, relaxing the muscles and sending a pleasant shiver through her body. She leaned against the wall and pressed her cheek to the surface, eyes closed as the hardships of the day melted away with the hot water and drained away at her feet.

Before she could get completely lost in the relaxation a sound startled her out of her daze and Krista looked down at the direction of the noise. The dog had found its way into the bathroom and stood in front of the shower, paw pressed flatly against the glass door. Those intense, too intelligent blue eyes bored into Krista's, and then dipped down and stared at her chest. Krista's heart startled.

The dog seemed to notice her unease and almost rolled its eyes. Krista was unsure of how the animal was able to show such attitude just with its eyes, but it did, and the dog looked away for a second before returning her eyes to Krista's, almost pleading.

Maybe she was hungry.

"Alright, I'm getting out!" Krista mumbled to the dog and hurriedly washed her hair and body. She stumbled out of the shower – the dog's eyes hadn't left her at all – and clumsily wrapped a towel around her body. Krista tried to ignore the dog's stare as she shuffled into her room and over to her cupboard.

"Look, dog, I don't know what your deal is but you have to stop staring at me like that." Krista admonished without glancing at the husky. "How can a dog even do that?" She asked softly to herself. She tried her best not to look over her shoulder to see if the dog was still staring as she pulled on a pair of panties and a plain white t-shirt. When she turned she was relieved to see the dog staring miserably off to the side.

_How is it looking so miserable? How do I even know that she's actually feeling that way?_

Krista shook her head and ran a hand through her wet hair. She would sit in front of the fire while she ate to dry it. It was still cold and going to sleep with wet hair would be beyond unpleasant.

"Alright, let's see what I can give you to eat." Krista left her room and went into the kitchen. After some searching she came across a bag of dog pellets she had kept from the time she had babysat Sasha's dogs. That had been an adventure in itself and an experience that had made Krista decide to never get dogs for herself. "This should do." She retrieved a plastic bowl and poured an appropriate amount of the food in, coupled it with a bowl of water and placed both down beside the island counter.

The brown husky slowly trudged over to the bowls, sniffed at the pellets and sat down with a huff.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Krista questioned. She crouched down and picked the bowl up to bring it under the dog's mouth. "Eat?"

As if to respond the dog growled softly and knocked the bowl out of Krista's hand. The blonde sighed in displeasure and shot the dog a glare.

"Seriously? Since when did animals get picky?" She retrieved a broom to sweep the mess up and ignored the dog after she had cleaned and started cooking dinner for herself. It wasn't much, only rice with some fish she had found in the freezer.

After the cooking was done she plated the food, grabbed a pair of chopsticks and retired to the cushion on the floor in front of the fireplace. The dog watched her go, eyes almost glaring. Krista couldn't fathom how the dog managed to look so intelligent.

"No food for you. I offered but you stuck your nose up to it. This is the consequence." Krista told the dog after it had followed her and sat down beside her. The husky released a huff of air and lay down, head resting on its paws. Horrible attitude aside, it looked utterly adorable.

After eating Krista put the dishes in her dishwasher and turned to the dog, still staring at her with those glaring blue eyes. "Because I'm feeling guilty about not giving you food I will let you sleep on my bed. On the foot of my bed." Krista pointed sternly. "If you stick your nose up to this too I'll make you sleep outside." She exited the kitchen and walked to her room, pleased to find the husky following her. She climbed under the covers, waited for the dog to jump up and curl into a ball at the foot of the bed, and then switched her lamp off and snuggled into her soft blanket and pillows.

Her small body relaxed and before she knew it she was fast asleep.

XxX

Krista breathed deeply in her sleep and turned onto her back. She sighed softly in the midst of her dreams and snuggled deeper into her bed. Sudden rattling and cursing brought her back to conscious, and Krista begrudgingly opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling.

"Goddamnit." Krista heard someone curse in a whisper from her kitchen and swallowed hard. Her heartbeat sped up in panic. Someone was in her house!

She gingerly climbed out of bed, still half asleep but attempting to properly wake herself, and retrieved a knife she kept hidden in her bedside drawer. Swallowing again to relieve herself of her dry throat – which didn't work – Krista softly padded out of her room, knife gripped intensely in her trembling hands and heart fluttering in panic. She breathed in short, soft gasps, unable to control her breathing because of her panic but panicking more because of how hard she was breathing. The person was surely going to hear her before they saw her, and then she would be properly doomed.

As she reached the end of the hallway she pressed her body against the wall and closed her eyes for a moment. She had to regain her cool, calm her heart and breathing and clear her mind. Panicking was the worst thing to do at the moment.

"How the fuck does this thing work?" The person muttered again, softly, and then there was a click, a hiss and then a sigh. "Oh. That's how."

Krista continued to listen as she remained pressed up against the wall. The person didn't sound that dangerous, though the deep voice filled with irritation indicated that whoever was in her kitchen was probably in a bad mood.

There was a clatter of metal, the sound of a cupboard closing, and then the hiss of the fridge opening. What the hell was this person doing?

Steeling her nerves, Krista swallowed and then stepped around the corner. She paused and titled her head to the side.

There was a naked person standing in her kitchen, head stuck in the fridge. Krista could see every detail of this person's backside – which was very toned and quite, well, attractive – which made the girl blush crimson and panic even more.

"The pipsqueak hardly has any food." The person muttered and stood up straight.

"U-uh… if you d-don't leave now I'll c-c-call the police!" Krista shouted suddenly, startling no one but herself. Her hands shook even worse, making the blade pointed forward in her hands tremble uncontrollably. Any idiot could see how damn terrified she was.

The person at her fridge straightened properly in surprise and turned slowly. Krista was relieved to see that her – it was quite clear from the slope of her chest that it was a woman – front was covered by an apron, though everything from her thighs downwards was on full display. It was Krista's apron after all, and this woman was so damn tall that it barely covered her modestly at all. She seemed to not care at all though, and simply closed the fridge and leaned over the centre island to stare at Krista with an oddly familiar glare.

"Did I wake you, shorty?" She asked harshly, distaste just dripping from her voice.

"Wh-who are you?!" Krista squeaked out, hands still trembling away in front of her.

The woman chuckled. "Don't you recognise me?" She wiggled her eyebrows and leaned forward on her elbows, waiting. Krista shook her head, confused as hell. "Oh? Well, what if I said 'woof', would that jog your memory?" the brunette – Krista had finally realized that the woman had short brown hair with a fringe swept to the side, nearly falling into her eyes – sounded clearly amused, but mostly upset for some strange reason.

"W-what?" Krista questioned in utter confusion. Her brain was starting to sizzle. Not only was there a gorgeous naked woman standing in her kitchen, naked, but she was naked and Krista couldn't ignore the fact that she was naked. There was the apron, but still. Naked. "U-um…"

"Jesus, are you stupid?" The woman shook her head and turned around, showing her bare ass off to Krista as she fiddled around at the stove.

Krista blushed again and looked away. "Who are you?"

"That dog you picked up in the street, the one you almost hit with your car."

"It's yours?" Krista wondered how this person had managed to find her or how she had managed to find out that Krista had taken the dog in. She also wondered why the woman had decided to fetch it at 1 in the morning… naked. None of this made sense. "Where is she though?" Knife and panic forgotten, Krista swept her eyes over the room in search of the husky. Surely it would be here if its owner was. Still, this made no sense.

"No. I am the dog, stupid." The woman ran a hand through her hair and glanced over her shoulder. "Nice to meet you."

Krista could only utter a squeak of confused shock before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Okay, I lied! But this isn't a proper A/N. I just want to say a reeeaaallly titan big (like 20 colossal titans on top of each other) THANK YOU to every wonderful soul that reviewed so far ^^ you guys are amazing, really. Your wonderful reviews put a smile on my face and inspire me to write the best I can so that you guys can get the best story. If you have any suggestions or things you'd like to see, mention in a review or PM and I'll consider it. I'm here to please! Now go on and read you beautiful people ^^

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Chapter 2:

When morning properly rolled around and the sun bathed everything in light Krista stirred and opened her eyes. She registered the familiar wall of her room and sighed in relief, not knowing why.

She took a second to think, to remember, and then everything crashed down on her in a torrent of memories.

"_Hey! Wake up!" A hand stung across her cheek, slapping to wake her. _

_Krista blinked and looked up at the annoyed face hovering above her. "The dog." She muttered softly. "You're the dog?" _

_The woman rolled her eyes and stood with Krista in her arms. The blonde had been out for the count, much to the mysterious woman's amusement. _

"_Yes, I am. I don't know how much longer I can stay human so I should probably put you down soon."_

_Krista felt her head swim and swallowed. This was absurd. There was no way this gorgeous naked woman was the frightened and moody dog she had nearly hit on the road. Stuff like that only happened in books and movies. But, where did this woman come from then?_

_Being the dog would explain the nakedness and the familiar glare, though her eyes were brown instead of the beautiful blue the husky had sported._

"_Where are your blue eyes?"_

"_Blue eyes?" They entered the room and the woman dropped Krista onto the bed. "What the hell are you talking about? You're the one with the blue eyes."_

"_No, if you are the dog then you should have blue eyes. The dog had pretty blue eyes." _

"_Oh," the woman huffed – much like the dog had earlier – and rolled her eyes. "Probably a sick joke on top of the sick joke." She threw her hands up in the air. "Whatever. You didn't give me any food and I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday. I am fucking hungry, so excuse me." She turned and left the room, pausing by the door before leaving. "Oh and my name is Ymir, not 'dog'. Remember that." She gave Krista a piercing stare and then disappeared into the kitchen._

_Krista stared after her, unblinking. She still didn't believe any of this. Maybe it was a dream. She rested down on the bed and curled up under her fluffy blanket, eyes slowly closing. Yeah, just a dream. Nothing but a dream._

Coming back to the present, Krista put her hyperventilating on hold to search the room for the husky. She nearly cried in relief when she saw the dog curled up on her bed.

It had just been a dream! A very vivid, weird and partly sexy dream.

Krista climbed out of bed and made her way over to the dog. It was a relief to know that the naked woman had just been a dream but that didn't stop a sinking feeling from taking over her stomach when looking at the husky.

"You must be hungry," she said to the canine and rubbed the top of her head. "I'll give you proper food this time. Come on girl, follow me." Krista made for the door but stopped. The dog wasn't following and was simply staring at her with displeasure. Again with the weirdly intelligent looks! "Come here dog, I don't have all day."

Its tail swished back and forth and the animal bared her fangs. Krista gasped and wondered what she did to piss the dog off now.

"_Oh and my name is Ymir, not 'dog'. Remember that."_

She didn't believe it had actually happened, but dreams could convey messages sometimes, so Krista took a deep breath and stepped up to the dog again. "Will you please follow me, Ymir?" She was utterly surprised when the dog dipped her head and then jumped down from the bed and trotted out of the room.

"Well, that was strange." Krista said to herself and followed Ymir into the lounge. The dog took a seat by the fireplace on Krista's cushion, waiting to be served. Krista giggled softly and made something for her and the animal. The dream still weirded her out but it was somewhat pleasant having someone else to feed other than herself. She had been so lonely lately and visits from her friends hardly helped, because they left, and she was always alone again.

"Here you go, Ymir." Krista placed two bowls down in front of the lounging dog, one with food and one with water, and was pleased to see the husky actually eat. "I wonder why you don't eat normal dog food." Krista commented. Ymir's ears twitched and she paused in her eating to gaze up at Krista with a look that made the blonde think the dog was telling her the answer was obvious. Ymir stared at her as if she was an idiot, which made Krista swallow nervously and ignore the dog for the rest of the morning as she ate and got ready for class.

It was still a Tuesday and having a dog wasn't going to stop her from leaving. She only hoped Ymir would behave.

Krista, now dressed and ready for another day, headed for the door with her laptop bag slung over her shoulder. A long whine stopped her in her tracks, though.

"Awww," Krista crouched down by the miserable dog and gave her a loving hug around the neck. "I'll be back at 5, Ymir. I have morning classes, work and then afternoon classes. Don't get up to too much trouble when I'm gone." She tried to get up and leave but Ymir got her jaws on the sleeve of her shirt and tugged. "What is it?" Ymir growled softly, not in anger but in a way as if to communicate.

Krista sighed and finally pulled free. "I have to go! I know you'll be lonely but I'm sure the day will go fast. Just hang in there." She waved quickly and ignored those pleading eyes. This was no time to go all soft, she had to leave.

Krista sighed to herself and made her way to her car. This was going to be a long day.

XxX

It was late afternoon, after Krista's last class for the day with the weird and wonderful Hanji-sensei and the blonde was sitting in a café with a few of her friends. They had expectantly called and invited her out for a bit, and she hadn't had the heart to say no. It had been some time since the last time they had gathered like this.

"So, we've finally decided." Sasha gushed excitedly. Mikasa took her hand and intertwined their fingers, but made no move to add.

"About what?" Krista enquired. She took a sip of her milkshake and waited with everyone else.

"Well, Mikasa and I have been thinking and talking about this for the past year. We've finally decided to try starting a family."

Krista blinked. "Like, having a baby?" Sasha nodded and smiled. Mikasa smiled behind her scarf – it had been given to her by Sasha when they had still been in highschool and were simply dating – and accepted the cheers of excitement with a nod.

"That's wonderful!" Armin commented from where he sat beside Eren. "How will you guys do it?"

"We will use Eren's sperm and Sasha's eggs, that way I'll be biologically related." Mikasa answered suddenly, surprising them all.

"Huh? What about me now?' Eren looked up from his intense milkshake foam and finally focused on the conversation. "I heard something about sperm."

Mikasa gave him a dead stare. She let Sasha's hand go, leaned over and slapped Eren upside the head.

"Ow, Mikasa! What the hell?"

"You should listen to important news from your sister and her wife, you idiot."

"What important news?"

"They're ready to have a baby and they want you to be the donor." Krista supplied. It was surprisingly nice being here, despite her worry of Ymir back at home. Her friends never changed and their diverse yet compatible personalities made her smile.

"Oh! Well, I don't mind but I'll have to ask Jean first." Eren blushed slightly at the mention of his long-time boyfriend and returned his focus to his milkshake. Everyone around them laughed.

"He has you so whipped." Armin said with a laugh and struggled to choke it down when Eren glared at him.

"I think he has the right to have a say over what I do with my sperm. Besides..." Eren cleared his throat and glanced out of the window. It was raining like yesterday, but a lot lighter. "I... I want to ask him about having a baby too."

Everyone went quiet, blinking. That was so unexpected.

"Are all my friends multiplying?" Krista asked jokingly to relieve the silence. Everyone chuckled.

"Yes, and unless you try dating again you'll be forever alone." Sasha said with an eyebrow wiggled. She felt Mikasa wrap an arm around her waist and leaned into her with a smile.

"We're all married, besides Eren and his boy because they're both idiots, and you're still incredibly single." Armin stated.

"Oh, Armin, since when are you married?" Krista shot back, partly injured and partly amused.

Armin blushed crimson and looked down at his lap. Everyone watched him with confusion. Taking a breath, Armin raised his hand to show the ring on his finger.

"Oh my God Armin, when were you going to tell us!?" Eren exclaimed and grabbed his friend's hand to inspect the ring. It was silver with three small diamonds imbedded into it.

"I... I was going to but Mikasa and Sasha announced their baby plans, and I guess I didn't want to take the spotlight."

"Speaking of that, we never got an answer from you two." Krista turned to the couple in question, eyebrow raised. Mikasa opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by Eren.

"Hold up! Wait! I need to know this first." He slammed his hand against the table, garnering the attention from neighbouring tables, and roughly gripped Armin's shoulder. "Who proposed?"

Armin turned pale and frowned. "That's... That's personal."

Eren grinned. He burst into raucous laughter and gave Armin a few hearty pats on the back. "She proposed, didn't she?" When Armin made no move to deny it Eren laughed even louder.

"Stop laughing Eren, you're being mean." Krista chastised and gave him a flick on the forehead. Eren coughed a few times, took a deep breath and then nodded, hand in the air to indicate he was trying to recover.

"Armin, I'm sorry." Eren wiped a tear from his eye." But that's just too funny."

"Did she really?" Sasha asked with a mischievous smile.

Armin sighed. "Yes, alright? Annie proposed to me last night." He folded his arms across his chest and slumped in his chair, hating the look he was getting from Eren. "It doesn't make me any less of a man, you know. Annie is just really dominating. I honestly don't mind being the more feminine one."

"We of all people shouldn't stick to stereotypes." Krista added, fully on Armin's side. The blonde boy gave her a smile of appreciation.

"You and Annie make a weird couple." Mikasa commented. This made Eren burst into laughter once more. Mikasa kicked Eren under the table, turning his laughter into a roar of pain.

"Ouch!"

"I didn't say that to make you laugh. It wasn't a joke. I'm being serious." She turned her eyes to Armin. "But I think you suite each other perfectly. Ignore my idiot brother, Armin, we're all happy for you."

Armin smiled cheerfully and waved his hand. "Let's change the topic."

"Your sibling rivalry is still so amusing." Krista said with a grin.

Eren and Mikasa looked at each other and then rolled their eyes.

"Okay! Back to us making a baby!" Sasha declared, wanting to tell her friends about the plan. "I know Mikasa is more of the tough one between us, but she wants to carry the baby."

Everyone blinked.

"Sasha wouldn't handle pregnancy well." Mikasa said. "And I really want to experience it."

Krista nodded, thinking that the decision had a lot of logic to it. Sasha already ate like a pregnant woman, and had the strangest cravings. None of them wanted to even imagine the monster Sasha would turn into if she ever became pregnant.

"So, how will you do it? IVF?" Armin questioned, ever the intelligent one.

"Yes." Mikasa answered blankly and left it there. Sasha smiled at her lover.

"We haven't decided where we'll have it done. We literally just decided this on Saturday."

"I'm sure you both will make wonderful parents." Krista stood and gave the happy couple a long hug. "I have to get going. You're having an anniversary party soon, right?"

Mikasa nodded. "It will be our third wedding anniversary."

"You guys are so lucky." Krista sighed. She did like being single but sometimes she felt an ache in her heart, a longing for the love and commitment her friends had. Maybe one day she would be lucky to find someone like that.

"You're going already?" Eren asked, displeased. They had only been there for an hour.

Krista glanced at her watch. "Yeah, I have something important at home. Thanks for the hang out guys, good luck with everything! And stay safe!" She called over her shoulder as she neared the exit of the cafe.

"You too!" The group called back and watched their small friend leave.

XxX

Krista wiped the water from her face as she unlocked and opened her front door. It had started raining slightly harder and she was soaked yet again. At least the ride home hadn't been as stressful as the day before.

After stepping inside she discarded her shoes at the entrance and entered the lounge.

"Ymir?" Krista called out followed by a whistle. There was no sound and it was eerily silent. "Where are you girl?" She dropped her bag and coat on the dining room table and went in search of the dog. She found her sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"How did you get the TV on?" Krista grabbed the remote and switched the TV off. She sat down next to the grumpy looking Ymir and ran a hand down her back. The dog almost seemed uncomfortable with the touch but remained still.

"Sorry for being late, girl. My friends invited me out for a bit."

Ymir's ears twitched and she huffed, blowing air through her nose, and rested her head down on her front paws. Her tail swished around, but Krista didn't think it was moving out of friendliness. Was the dog mad at her for being late?

"You sure are a weird dog. You act so human." Krista giggled to herself. There was no way that naked woman was actually the dog. No way... It was too impossible.

Ymir lifted her head and gave Krista a level look. She hopped off of the couch, trotted into Krista's room and then returned with a book between her jaws. It was a notebook, and when the dog dropped it on Krista's lap, the blonde noticed some scribbles across the page. She picked the book up and turned it around in an attempt to read the badly drawn scribbles.

"Where did you find this?" Krista tilted her head, looked at the lines of pen from all different angles and then gave up with a sigh. "Whoever did this must be illiterate." Krista commented to herself, not noticing Ymir's lips curl back to show her fangs. Huffing slightly, the husky hopped back up onto the couch and placed a paw against the paper.

"What? I can't read it." Ymir nudged Krista's shoulder with her nose and whimpered. "Okay, let me study it again." Feeling that odd tightness in her stomach again, Krista turned the notebook around once more and squinted. She could make out a few letters, though vaguely.

"In hume" she finally said after an agonizing moment of intense thought and concentration.

Ymir sneezed and nudged Krista again.

"What does 'hume' mean?" Krista scratched her head in cluelessness.

Ymir growled softly and simply fell back onto the couch. She slapped Krista's back with her tail and then closed her eyes. Krista sighed.

"This is just getting weirder." She dropped the pad of paper onto the coffee table and left for the kitchen to make dinner for her and the strange dog.

XxX

Later that night Krista lay in bed, confused and pondering. After dinner the brown husky had continuously bothered her while making the strangest noises. It was like she had been trying to communicate and after a whole hour of completely freaking Krista out the dog growled in frustration and left the room.

The previous night's dream entered her mind again. What if? How could it possibly be true?

But there was no other way to explain that dog's absolutely weird behaviour. It acted like a moody teenager, not a lovable man's best friend. Could this dog just be specially gifted with intelligence or was Krista simply in denial?

Scuffing and soft pattering sounded at her door, and then the handle turned, causing Krista's heart to shoot into her throat. Ymir walked in and pushed the door shut with her shoulder.

Krista breathed a sigh of relief.

Wait, did the dog just open and close the door?

Ymir slowly walked over to the bed and then jumped up onto it. When Krista reached out and touched her fur she realized Ymir was freezing. Not wasting any time Krista lifted the blanket and allowed the dog to crawl under. The poor thing must have been so cold.

"Only because it's cold, alright? This won't become a regular thing." She said while pointing at the dog. The husky blew a breath out of her nose and rested her head against Krista's shoulder. The blonde smiled at the affectionate move and wrapped her arms around the dog's neck.

It definitely wouldn't be a regular thing. Ymir probably had a family out there worried and searching for her. Krista couldn't keep her even if she had wanted to and decided to devote herself to finding Ymir's owners the moment she was free to do so. If only she wasn't strangely disappointed at the thought.

"Goodnight Ymir." She whispered softly and closed her eyes, barely registering Ymir's intense blue eyes staring up at her face as her breathing evened out and she fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Krista was woken up by the sound of a sudden hiss followed by hot air. She was startled but remained still with her eyes closed. It was possibly a dream again, or something.

But then her pillow shifted and moved, gently, up and down. The surface expanded and then deflated. What the...?

Krista flexed her body and took note of the warmth against her own. There was something soft and incredibly warm in her hand, and she gave it a soft squeeze out of curiosity. Something hard poked against her palm, sitting at the top of the slope cupped in her hand. Wait...

The blonde sat up and cracked her eyes open. It was difficult to focus for the first few seconds, but then her vision cleared and she glanced down at her hand.

Words would never be able to fully explain the mini-heart attack and complete panic that shot through Krista's chest at seeing what she had been sleeping on.

It was the naked woman, still naked, looking at her with amused brown eyes.

Krista screamed, loud enough to startle the brunette in her bed, and shifted back until she fell off of the bed. She continued to crawl back until her back hit the wall and she had nowhere else to go.

"Y-y-you!" Krista uttered, frightened out of her mind.

"Whoa, shorty, calm down!" The woman got off of the bed and stood towering over Krista.

"Gah! Cover your body!" Krista shouted with a hand over her eyes.

"Oh yeah, shit." The brunette grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around her long, nude body. "Anyway, calm down! I tried explaining this to you last night but you didn't believe me so I gave up in even trying."

"W-what?"

"I wasn't joking, you weren't dreaming. I'm the damn dog."

"Impossible." Krista shook her head. "That goes against logic!"

"You're telling me. Look, I don't know shit about why or how I ended up like this, only that I did and you ended up finding me."

"I… I… I…" Krista couldn't form an intelligent thought. She was in complete shock.

"Look," the woman crouched down in front of her and offered her hand. "I probably should have introduced myself properly last night. My name is Ymir and I am a human, at least, from midnight until 3 a.m. it seems."

Krista glanced over at her bedside clock. It glowed a bright 00:12 back at her.

"Th-this can't be real." Krista closed her eyes tightly and hid her face against her knees. She counted to ten and then uncovered her face. It didn't work. Of course it wouldn't have.

Ymir was still crouched in front of her, hand outstretched and eyes pleading.

"I-I'm Krista." The blonde said faintly and took Ymir's much larger hand in her own. "Are you really the dog?"

Ymir nodded. "If you don't believe me then stay up until 3 and you'll see me evaporate into that damn dog again. Though I'm not sure if that's the set time. I haven't been like this for long."

"When did it start?" Krista asked, unable to stop herself. She was in part disbelief and part belief. She would wait to see if it was true, with her own eyes.

"Monday morning. I left for work and then poof! Suddenly I've got four legs and everything looks way bigger." Ymir dropped down and crossed her legs. She scoffed softly and bit down on her lip. "This fucking sucks. How the hell does something like this even happen?"

Krista watched her with trepidation. They remained silent like that; Ymir grumbling miserably and Krista trying to calm her heart and level her breathing.

"Can I take a shower?" Ymir asked suddenly, startling Krista out of her bubble of concentration.

"S-sure!"

"I would have taken one anyway but you're awake so I figured I'd ask." The brunette shrugged and stood, letting the blanket fall off of her body and pool at her feet. Krista quickly looked away with a blush and fiddled nervously with the edge of her shirt.

"Um, I'm sorry for groping your boob." Krista said softly, feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment. Ymir laughed loudly and headed for the bathroom. She didn't even respond before she slammed the door behind her and busied herself with taking a long shower.

Krista sighed, wondered what she had gotten herself into and got up. She went over to her cupboard and rummaged around in the far back to find clothes that were long enough for her guest to wear.

"She probably won't need them, though…" Krista nibbled on her lower lip. "If she really does turn back into a dog then the clothes are useless. I can't have her walking around naked though, I won't be able to handle that."

Krista remembered that she had an old pair of Reiner's boxers and hurried to her guest room to retrieve them along with a black tank top. When she had found the items she folded them neatly and placed them on her bed.

"Might as well go and do something productive since I can't go back to sleep." Krista tiredly rubbed her face and walked to the lounge, grabbing her bag on the way, dropped down on the couch, and then she pulled her books and notes out as well as her stationary and started thinking.

She only had Wednesday and Thursday left to work on that assignment and so far she still hadn't even come up with a concept.

20 minutes later Ymir walked into the lounge, dressed in the clothes given to her by Krista, towelling her hair dry. She found Krista curled up in the corner of the couch, notebook full of notes cradled in her lap.

"Work?" She questioned casually and plopped down beside the blonde.

Krista simply nodded, still not comfortable with the brunette in her house, in her lounge, sitting so casually on her couch. She still couldn't wrap her head around the situation.

"Why didn't you leave last night," Krista closed the notebook and looked to Ymir, "When you turned human? Why did decide to stay in a stranger's house?"

Ymir sighed. "I have no idea where I am, or else I would have. I also lost my keys and everything when I suddenly turned into a dog."

"Did you get lost?"

"Yeah."

"So if you really are the dog, then that's why you looked so confused when you jumped out into the road."

Ymir rolled her eyes. "Stop doubting. You'll see in exactly 2 hours that I'm not some nudist creep who happened to spot a pretty blonde and decided to sneak into your house. I know this situation seems fucked up but I'm not a psycho." She cradled her head in her hands, feeling a headache coming on. "I would have laughed in the face of someone who told me this would happen. What the fuck did I do to deserve this?"

"Uh…." Krista clenched her hands uneasily and swallowed. "Did you maybe anger someone?"

Ymir snorted. "Ha! Have you not noticed my terrible attitude already? I piss people off as a hobby. Fuck knows how long the list would be if I had to make one of all the people who would love to turn me into a dog."

Krista sighed. "Could you maybe make a list of ten people you upset the most? If you really are the dog then we need to start somewhere in finding out who did this to you."

Ymir paused, looked over to Krista and titled her head. "You would help me, a seemingly crazy stranger who strut around your house naked?" Krista nodded. "What do you want in return?" Ymir narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Nothing was ever offered without something being wanted in return. Give and take in equal was like a universal law, otherwise everything broke out into chaos because of the unbalance.

"I don't want anything. If you need help then I'll help."

Ymir stared at her. "I don't know if I should call you God or call you fucking stupid." She crossed her one leg over the other, and then her arms in front of her chest. "But I'll pass on the offer. I can figure this out on my own, thank you very much. I don't need some short blondie sticking her nose into my business."

Krista frowned. "Excuse me? I've fed you, given you a place to shelter, let you use my shower and I gave clothes to you, how can you say that?"

Ymir laughed and shook her head. "I thought you helped for free, or do you really want something from me?" She chuckled when Krista looked away from her eyes, face flustered and hot. "Thought so."

"You could at least show some appreciation." Krista muttered softly and sniffed. She didn't want to cry because she knew she would appear weak, but she had never been so blatantly insulted before and didn't really know how to avoid the sting of hurt. She had half a mind to kick Ymir out of her door and let the taller woman deal with the situation on her own like she had said she wanted to, but of course Krista was too soft and made a different decision that would be just as effective.

"Are you going to cry?" Ymir asked, watching Krista's face morph into many different expressions before it froze in determination and she wiped her tears away. "You're a real softie, aren't you, to get hurt just from that?" Ymir asked and waited.

There was no response.

"Did you hear me? Hello! Krista?" Ymir waved her hand in front of Krista's face but the blonde acted as if she wasn't even there. "Oh, I see. The silent treatment. You know, I could be a serial killer." Ymir scooted over until her lips were inches away from Krista's ear. "I could eat people, or rip people's faces off and wear them." She grinned widely when she saw Krista pale and shiver.

Krista quickly got up from the couch and made her way over to the telephone, feeling terrified and worried. She picked the phone up and started dialling a familiar number.

"Hey, I was just kidding." Ymir hurried to the blonde and spoke in panic. "I don't kill people, I swear. I just wanted to see if you would react."

Krista continued to ignore Ymir but hesitated in confirming the call. It was late, after all and calling at this hour was rude.

"Are you seriously going to ignore me like this?" Ymir growled, fully irritated beyond her limit. Sure, the blonde was cute and she hated seeing cute girl's cry, most times, but now the smaller girl was starting to piss her off. "Listen here you little runt." Ymir stepped forward, teeth bared, and then paused and looked on with widened eyes. "Oh shit. Not now!"

There was a slow hiss, and then Ymir burst into hot air and seconds later emerged from the steam. As a dog.

Ymir released a howl of frustration making Krista dive down and close her mouth with her hands.

"Shhh! I have neighbours you know." She whispered fiercely.

_Yeah, whisper like a retard as if everyone can hear you. Dumbass._

Krista felt the voice enter her head, and then she sat down in front of Ymir with wide eyes and stared at her.

"Say something." She urged, now completely believing everything Ymir had said up until this point. Seeing her turn into a dog was proof enough. Of course, she didn't have enough time to gap in shock as she had wanted to because of her fear of waking her neighbours. She knew she would go into shock soon, but for the moment she felt a burning curiosity and hopefully her heart was beating in excitement and not in panic.

_Say what? Did you forget I can't speak as a dog? Jesus, this girl is more stupid than I thought._

"Oh my God…" Krista put a hand to her forehead. "I think you're speaking into my mind."

_What is she going on about now? She looks terrified. I wonder if she'll piss herself._ Ymir growled softly in amusement and sat down on her backside.

"Hey! I will not piss myself. I'm not that scared." Krista said angrily, pointing a finger at the dog.

_Huh?_ Ymir titled her head to the side, confused. _How did she know I thought that?_

"Because for some reason I can hear your thoughts now." Krista looked straight into Ymir's eyes as she said this, clearing up any confusion she had about who Krista was talking to.

_Oh shit, you can hear my thoughts?_

"Yeah."

_Shit._

"I don't appreciate you calling me a dumbass. If you want me to let you stay here until you figure something out then be nice to me."

_Who said I wanted to stay, huh?_

"You're more than welcome to leave. I've never wanted a dog anyway."

Ymir growled deep in her chest, teeth peeking out over her lips.

_I am much more dangerous in dog form, you short shit._

"No, really, Ymir. You obviously don't like me and this is such a weird situation. If you don't want to stay here then just leave. Go back to your own house and figure this out on your own. I don't have time to sit here and take verbal assault from someone I don't even know." Krista stood and picked the clothes up from the ground where they had fallen after Ymir's transition back to an animal.

_Well I didn't ask for help from a pathetic little girl. I'll leave this shithole and find my way back, without your help._ Ymir growled with each word and then roughly stood and bounded over to the door.

Krista frowned and opened the door for her. "Here. Just in case you turn while on the streets. You don't want to end up naked in public." She shoved the clothes into Ymir's mouth, surprising the dog. She hid her surprise well and simply huffed as she turned.

_Whatever. _

She said no more as she trotted down the patio steps and exited the gate. She didn't even spare a glance back as she walked down the street.

Krista sighed and shut the door. Did she seriously just meet a gorgeous woman who was cursed with turning into a dog? It still seemed so unbelievable, but she had seen it with her own eyes. If only she could un-see it.

"I wonder if she'll be okay." Krista wondered out loud, unable to stop her soft heart from worrying about the strange person even though she had been so mean. Krista sighed again. "Now what do I do?" She glanced over at the coffee table and noticed the notebook from earlier still resting on its surface. The small blonde went over to it and picked the book up. She ran her eyes over the scribbles, wondering again what had been written, and then it hit her.

"I'm human." She chuckled. "So that's what it said. I'm impressed that she managed to write anything as a dog." She sat down on the couch and grew still.

A person turning into a dog through a curse done by an angry lover, or an old rival. That had a nice ring to it. Maybe… the curse was created by an intricate weave of black magic? Krista grabbed her notes and a pen and hurriedly began scribbling her own notes that consisted of a draft full of ideas concerning a cursed woman who turned into a dog.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

When Friday arrived Krista was exhausted but pleasantly fulfilled. She had managed to properly complete her assignment. It had taken a great deal of research and at some points she had ventured into the dark, scary part of the internet. Krista had been going to sleep past midnight as she worked and researched on her topic. It had been very insightful and Krista had even learnt quite a few things while investigating if such a curse that Ymir seemed to have even existed in mythology or lore. Of course Ymir hadn't returned and Krista had not seen her at all since they parted. She never expected to see the tall woman again, though she couldn't shake an irritating feeling of disappointment every time she arrived home and found herself alone, no dog or naked woman in sight.

Krista yawned loudly and tried to hide it behind her book. Damn late nights. She felt exhausted and decided then and there to go home as soon as her afternoon class ended and sleep until she had slept enough. A couple of hours devoted to recovering shouldn't hurt her working habits much.

"Now, for our last topic! Has anyone heard of a Titan?" Hanji asked loudly, hands clasped behind her back. She rocked back and forth on her heels and quirked an eyebrow. "No? Well, let me explain one of our darkest most properly hidden myths." The class sighed. Hanji was on a roll again, always obsessed with her Titan theories, and once she started on the topic there was no stopping her unless someone managed to successfully distract her or class ended.

No one seemed to get the distracting part right and each time someone attempted to divert the topic they only intensified Hanji-sensei's passion. Krista giggled. Hanji was her favourite teacher for a reason.

"I have read up on this! There is this old, dusty book at the library stating that thousands of years ago man nearly went instinct!" Someone rolled their eyes, forgetting to hide it, and Hanji noticed. "I'm serious here! This is the biggest controversy we have ever seen. Why does the government keep this hidden from us? I've managed to scrape a decent amount of data together to piece the basic plot together! Surely the government has much more detailed and factual evidence. But why? Is it a conspiracy?" Hanji started chewing the nail of her thumb, and Krista knew she had to intervene.

"Hanji-sensei!" Krista called out with an arm raised.

"Yes, Krista?" The teacher responded.

"Have you ever heard of the giant Ymir?"

Hanji completely froze in her hurried pacing and slowly turned her face to Krista, eyes wide and pupils dilated. "Oh?" She said. "Do explain further, Krista."

Krista smiled and nodded at the smiles and nods of appreciation from the others students. She got up from her desk and went over to the front of the class, filling her lungs with air as her heart beat in excitement.

"I was doing some research for my assignment."

"And did you find something interesting?"

"I did."

"Do share." Hanji was almost panting, attention now completely focused on Krista, her Titan rant forgotten.

"In Norse mythology there is this primeval being born of primordial electable poison called Ymir, also known as Aurgelmir, Brimir or Bláinn who are ancestors of all jötnar, which are a mythological race that lived in Jötunheimr, one of the nine worlds of Norse cosmology." The class had completely silenced, all engrossed in Krista's clear, angelic voice as she spoke with certainty and intelligence.

"So, Ymir was basically born from venom that dripped from icy rivers Élivágar – also known as Ice Waves – and resided in the grassless void of Ginnungagap.

Now Ginnungagap, the "mighty gap", was the vast and primordial void that existed before the creation of the manifest universe. In etymology it can be interpreted as signifying magical and creative power filled space.

Back to Ymir now. So, Ymir birthed a male and female from the pits of his arms, gross, I know." Krista giggled at the few students that cringed. "And then his legs together begat a six-headed being. The Earth was made of Ymir's flesh, the ocean his blood, the hills his bones, the trees his hair, his brains the clouds, his skull the heavens and from is eyebrows they made the middle realm where mankind lived.

After Ymir was formed from the elemental drops, so was the Auðumbla – the primeval cow of Norse mythology – as well. In the _Prose Edda_ it says that Ymir was killed by three gods, the brothers Odin, Vili and Vé and further explains that upon Ymir's death his blood caused an immense flood.

Ymir has been linked by scholars to Tuisto, the Proto-Germanic being and an echo of a primordial being reconstructed in Proto-Indo-European mythology."

Hanji took a deep, shattering breath to calm her racing heart and gave a mouth splitting smile. "Wow that was amazing. What did you research to come across such a wonderful myth?"

"I was researching the name 'Ymir' and I discovered the Norse background. Interesting fact," Krista raised a finger, facing the class which made some students chuckle. "Ymir also means hermaphrodite."

"So, what relevance did this have to your assignment?" Hanji-sensei asked, wanting the blonde to speak endlessly with her seemingly bottomless knowledge. It baffled everyone how someone so small could remember so much.

"It had more of a personal relevance to an experience, someone I met, as opposed to my research for the project. I just felt like sharing that tale, and since you love giants so much I assumed you would enjoy the tale."

Hanji nodded vigorously. "I did! For that you will definitely get extra credit! See that, class? That is how to impress me."

"Hanji-sensei!" A boy called up from the back and stood at his desk. "Do you know of the Norse goddess Freyja?"

Hanji raised an eyebrow. "I do" She shook her head, eyes swiftly leaving the student to return to Krista. The poor guy deflated and slumped back into his chair. A girl sitting next to him gave his head a pet and chuckled when he slapped it away and glared.

"Krista, you are absolutely amazing. I cannot wait to read your report. Is it finished?" Krista nodded with a smile. "Wonderful!" Hanji turned to the class. "Class is dismissed early today. Enjoy your weekend. Please place your assignments on my desk before leaving. I will not accept any late assignments unless you can convince me that it would be in my best interest to do so!"

The class chorused with a drawn out "hai, Hanji-sensei!" and hurried to give their projects in and leave for the fabulous weekend. Once the last student, excluding Krista, had left, Hanji reached out with both hands. Krista giggled and pulled a folder out of her shoulder bag that contained the typed up report she had worked tirelessly on.

"My assignment, Hanji-sensei." Krista did a bow as she handed it to Hanji's waiting hands, who in turn bowed as she received it. Hanji titled backwards and groaned appreciatively just from looking at the heading of the file. She tip toed to her desk, always liking melodrama, and gingerly placed the file on top of the pile of other assignments.

"I will read and grade it the second I get home." Hanji snickered suspiciously to herself, making Krista smile in amusement as much as worry. They all worried about their teacher. Worried about her mental health, but they loved her all the same.

"Don't give me too much special treatment." Krista said, fearing that Hanji would grade her with her obvious favouritism playing a keen part.

"Never! I will dissect and deconstruct this report of yours and put it back together to see if it is worthy enough to get high grades." Hanji whipped the stack of files off of her desk, wobbled a bit from the weight and consequence of gravity, and then righted her balance and huffed in satisfaction. "If I hate it you will know first thing Monday afternoon!" Hanji stated with her usual cheerful grin and followed Krista out of the class.

"Thank you, Hanji-sensei." Krista bowed to her teacher, accepted the nod in response since Hanji's hands were full – Krista offered to help but Hanji had almost snapped at her like a rabid dog, so that was a no – and then turned and found her car.

The clouds had finally let up, relieving the area of the usual downpour. It wasn't even drizzling, fortunately, but the clouds still loomed angrily above, like they were gloating in getting ready to explode again.

After getting in she turned the heater on and waited a bit for the cold air in her car to warm up. While waiting Krista's phone went off and she pulled it out of her pocket to read the message.

'_Hey! Meet me at the pizza place close to your house? I'll pay. I miss you, Kriiiiista. Love, Petra.'_

Krista smiled. Well, her plans for the rest of the late afternoon were now completely changed.

'_Hai. Be there in 10 minutes. Save a table for us. – Krista.'_ The blonde replied to the message in a blur of fingers to QWERTY keys, and then she started the car and drove off towards the desired location.

Upon arriving Krista parked her car in the nicely available parking spot directly in front of the restaurant and trudged inside with a tired but happy smile. She spotted Petra at the back and made her way over to her blonde cousin.

"Hey Petra."

"Krista!" Petra stood to hug her equally short family and friend and flashed a warm smile. "How are you? You look exhausted."

Krista took a seat opposite her and sighed. "I am. I've been working on an assignment this week, never had time to sleep. It was worth it though. I think I aced it."

"Pfft, think? I'm sure you aced it with that brilliant mind of yours." Krista blushed slightly but thanked Petra for the compliment. "Soooo," Petra titled her head to the side, eyes partially closed, and smiled. "How's the love life?"

Krista groaned and thunked her head against the table. "Don't remind me. I'm so lonely."

"Aw, honey, I'm sorry. Why don't you try online dating again?"

Krista snorted rather ungracefully and sat up to rest her head down on her arms instead of resting her cheek against the cold table. "Never trying that again. I found so many weirdoes on there."

"Hey, some people have found honest love through the internet."

"That 'some people' obviously not applying to me. I don't know, I do want someone but I guess I just don't have the time to look. I'm also hoping that I'll just bump into that special person and we'll just click and there will be sparks and romantic background music and then we'll live happily ever after."

Petra laughed. "You've always been such a dreamer, cousin."

"I have." Krista sighed and drew heart patterns on the dark, smooth surface of the table. "That's why I'll be forever alone, just like Sasha said."

"Don't listen to that potato head, you'll find someone! And speaking of Sasha, I heard from a friend that Sasha was on the phone arguing about sperm donors or something."

"Yeah, she and Mikasa have decided to make babies." Petra quirked an eyebrow. "Through science of course since they can't just make it themselves, though I'm sure Mikasa would find a way. She's scary when she's determined."

"That's true. So did you hear about Marco?"

"Marco?"

"Yeah, Jean's best friend. They both go to the same afternoon class as you."

Krista nodded in remembrance. "So, what about him?"

"He and Eren got into a fight over Jean. Apparently Marco has been in love with Jean for years even before Eren and Jean met, but he never had the guts to confess until yesterday."

"Ouch." Krista flinched, knowing how Eren must have kicked Marco's ass. Eren was known for his stubborn hard-headedness and his striking ability to perfectly defend and fight for the people he loved. Poor Marco, the guy was a pushover. "He must have walked away with a few broken bones."

"Actually the worst he suffered was a black eye. Eren got a broken nose and a concussion."

"What?!" Krista sat up straight in alarm. "How?"

"Jean jumped in and fought Eren off of Marco. If he hadn't stopped them then someone would have gotten seriously hurt."

Krista nibbled on her lower lip in thought. The fact that Jean had decided to fight Eren off of Marco instead of the other way around was worrying. Sure, Marco was weaker but Eren was Jean's boyfriend and should have been his highest priority. There was definitely a lot of drama going on there.

"So Jean and Eren ended up fighting and Eren is staying over at Mikasa and Sasha." Petra added.

"Poor Eren." That was another reason Krista shied away from romantic interaction. She dreaded the complications and drama a relationship brought. She wasn't very sure if it was worth it.

They rested with the gossip for a bit and traded idle conversation as they ordered, waited for the food and eventually ate. As they reached the end of the meal Petra remembered something she had wanted to tell Krista and waved her hand to get the blonde's attention.

"Mm?"

"I forgot to mention this earlier, and I want your opinion on it. Apparently there is this dog running loose in the neighbourhood. It's all bloodied and wounded but it keeps running away whenever someone tries to help it. Do you think you know where the dog is from?"

Krista's stomach dropped and she suddenly felt sick. "Uh, what breed?"

"Oh! It's a beautiful brown husky, or so I was told. Another friend said it has these really intelligent blue eyes. Most people get spooked and stay away from the dog."

Krista's heart pounded. That had to be Ymir. She hadn't found her way home? Was she still wondering around the neighbourhood, possibly injured and weak?

"Um, Petra, thank you for dinner and the company. I'll make sure to invite you out sometime soon to repay you. I just remembered something I have to do, so if you'll please excuse me." Krista stood up and gripped the edge of the table to steady her shaking legs.

Why did she feel so panicked all of a sudden? Ymir wasn't her problem, they had parted ways and she had decided to forget that had ever actually happened. Why did it suddenly feel like the world was about to crumble?

"Are you alright? You look really pale."

"No, no! I'm fine, just cold." Krista waved the concern off. She pulled Petra into a long hug and bid her cousin and close friend goodbye before leaving the restaurant and climbing into her car.

She raced home, not knowing why she was in a hurry and not even properly focused enough to realize that she was acting completely out of character. Speeding was something she never did, until now.

Krista came to a screeching halt in front of her garage and tumbled out of the car. With trembling hands she dug into her bag for the house keys as she climbed the porch steps. She found the keys and then she heard a whimper and looked down with a gasp.

Ymir lay on top of her doormat, white and brown fur dyed red with blood and matted with the dried substance. Krista couldn't see where the injury was because of all of the blood and fur, so she opted to smashing her door open and carrying the husky inside.

"Ymir, what the hell happened to you?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Halfway through carrying Ymir inside the brunette suddenly morphed back into human form and slumped against Krista. The small blonde cried out in panic but restored her footing and forced herself to move to the couch. The adrenalin helped her carry the woman that must have been twice her size.

Now on the couch on her back – still naked – Ymir grunted in pain and attempted to move but stopped when a searing pain ripped through her abdomen. Seconds later Ymir went completely still.

Krista felt for a pulse, sighed when she found one and hurried to get a bowl of hot water, a towel, a first aid kit and some clothes. Once she returned she started gently wiping the dried and fresh blood from Ymir's bronze, smooth skin.

While busy with the task Krista barely took notice of Ymir's body other than her injury. Somehow she had gotten pretty torn up around the hip and lower abdomen. She also had a few scrapes and bruises along her arms, so after cleaning and drying, Krista wrapped her injuries with clean bandages and dumped the brown water into the bathroom sink.

"Ouch, for fuck sakes." A familiar grumpy voice broke the depressed silence, startling the blonde.

Krista rushed to Ymir's side and gently pushed the brunette back down onto her back. "Don't move, please. Your wounds aren't deep enough to require stitches but they are bad enough to tear. I just got the bleeding to stop."

"Oh, it's you." Ymir sighed and rested back down. "I didn't ask for your help."

"Then why were you by my front door?"

"I don't remember. How do I know you didn't find me somewhere and just bring me back?"

Krista tilted her head. "If I found you injured of course I would have, but no, I didn't." She sat down on the floor in front of the couch and placed her hand against Ymir's stomach. "What happened to you?"

Ymir's jaw clenched at the small warm hand on her skin and roughly knocked it away. The movement jostled her wounds, making her suck in a deep breath and wince. "None of your business."

"Come on Ymir. You came here somehow so you must want my help."

"I don't."

"Didn't you find your way back?" Krista questioned. "Don't you have someone to call? Don't you have family that could help you?"

Ymir growled. "I don't, okay? I'm alone. So stop bothering me. As soon as I can walk I'm leaving and this time it will be for good."

Krista sighed. "I can help you, you know. I've been doing a lot of research." Ymir laid back and closed her eyes. Krista put a blanket over her nude form and returned to her seat by the floor. "Your situation gave me an idea for this assignment, which required research and relevant information. I also researched your name." Krista waited for a response but none came, so she continued anyway. "Ymir is a giant in Norse mythology. Your name also means hermaphrodite."

This got a response from the brunette who opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "I don't have a giant penis."

"I know."

"Do you?"

Krista gave Ymir a droll look. "I saw you naked, remember? I think I would have noticed something hanging."

"Oh yeah." Ymir chuckled dryly and returned to her earlier position of eyes closed and body still. "Now leave me alone to sleep."

Krista sighed. She could tell there was no convincing Ymir at the moment; maybe she could talk to her again at midnight. Speaking of that…

"Before I go, I thought you only return to human form at midnight?"

"I do, every midnight, but this is the second time I've changed before then. I don't understand it either. Can I sleep now?" The end of her response was said with annoyance, so Krista sighed, lifted her hands in defeat and left the brunette alone.

She made her way into her room for a shower, had dinner after, checked on Ymir – who had turned back into the husky at some point – and then she finally called it a night and went to sleep.

XxX

A few hours later, just after midnight, Krista's alarm went off and woke her. Since her guest had been injured Krista had set the alarm so that she could check on her and replace the bandages if need be.

Still in the midst of waking, Krista sleepily made her way into the lounge and stopped at the foot of the couch.

The bandages around Ymir's body were either on the floor or loosely wrapped around the wrong areas of her body. Of course that would have happened when Ymir turned during the hours. Also, as expected Ymir was once more in human form. She was sleeping on her stomach with the blanket halfway off of her body and only covering her from the waist down. The bronze slope of her back was on full view to a blushing Krista who hurried to recover the tall woman. While pulling the blanket up Krista noticed that although the bandages were dried with blood and there were a few patches of dried blood on her skin, Ymir no longer had any injuries.

Everything had healed. How interesting.

Feeling curious, Krista dropped the blanket and crouched down beside the couch. She reached out and ran her hand over Ymir's arm where some of the bad scrapes had been. There really was only blood left. Her skin was smooth and undamaged. Blood was the only evidence of any type of injury. How was this possible?

Well of course Krista had passed over the line of impossibility. Before this she had never believed in the supernatural, but now after seeing the real physical proof right before her eyes, Krista was thinking that it was time to consider that there was more to life than what logic defined. Some things existed that defied explanation, it seemed.

And someone had found a way to defy logic and now Ymir was going through what must have been a terrifying experience.

Krista ran her hand over Ymir's previously injured hip, thinking about herself in such a situation. How would she have felt or reacted? Would she have panicked or would she have been able to remain calm? It only took a second for Krista to decide that she would have panicked terribly.

Even though Ymir put on a front of acting tough and indifferent, Krista could sense the panic and confusion in her. That is why she still wanted to help despite the insults and bad attitude. Besides, this was as interesting as it was baffling. Krista wanted to write all about this experience, as much as possible. It was more of a personal desire than anything to get credit for, since no one would believe it anyway. Even if Krista recorded a video of Ymir turning, people would assume it was edited and special effects had been used. What was the point then?

But now she had a chance to convince Ymir to stay and to help her. She had a chance to observe and write about what she saw to her heart's content. Convincing Ymir would be the only difficult part, but Krista was determined to do it.

"Are you trying to cop a feel?" A gruff voice asked, startling Krista enough that she jerked her hand away from Ymir's hip and fell backwards onto her backside.

"N-no! I'm sorry for touching you like that." Krista stammered and swallowed. "But I noticed that all of your wounds healed, so I was just checking to see if your skin really was properly healed."

Ymir raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "Right." She sat up unthinkingly, not caring to keep the blanket over her front. "Holy shit you're right." Ymir ran her hands over her previously injured body and smirked. "Now this I don't mind. For once this damn curse is benefitting me!"

Krista observed her nervously. "Uh, would you like something to eat?"

Ymir look at her, brown eyes boring intensely into the blonde's timid blues. "Sure." She felt the urge to be snarky or sarcastic, but Ymir had been the one to crawl here in her delirium and Krista had been kind enough to let her stay despite how shitty she had treated her. Ymir still suspected the blonde of wanting something in return, but opted to stay on her best behaviour until she sorted her thoughts out and figured out what the hell she was going to do about everything.

Krista left for the kitchen. A few minutes later Ymir followed in, thankfully clothed in a different pair of boxers and a shirt that Krista had left out for her at some point, and went to sit at the island counter in the centre of the kitchen.

They remained silent as Krista cooked, her back facing Ymir the whole while. Ymir didn't feel the urge to talk at all and took the silence in with relief. Talking would only annoy her and she would end up saying something insulting to the blonde. Never insult someone who was handling your food, Ymir always believed.

"Here." Krista finally turned around and placed a few bowls down on the table in front of Ymir. One held rice and another had vegetables. Krista placed another plate down that contained a steak and retrieved a pair of chopsticks from her drawer. She put them down in front of Ymir and sat down on the chair opposite from her.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Ymir asked and Krista shook her head. Ymir shrugged. "Whatever." She picked the chopsticks up and started on shovelling the rice into her mouth. Poise and politeness had never been her strong suites, especially not now as she ungracefully stuffed her mouth and ignored the blonde watching with wide, riveted eyes.

After finishing everything in short time, Ymir took it upon herself to collect the bowls on top of the plate and took it all to the sink. She dumped it all there and turned around, hands gripping the edge of the counter, and gave Krista a pained look.

"What's wrong?" Krista asked from where she still sat.

"Um…" Ymir looked away, unable to maintain eye contact anymore and ran a hand through her shaggy brown hair. It had gotten a bit longer than she remembered. Had it grown because of this freak incident or was she just losing touch of her own self?

"Yeah?" Krista pressed.

"Thanks, I guess." Ymir finally uttered uncomfortably and straightened. "For the food." She dropped her arms to her sides and shuffled on her feet. "I don't owe you for it, do I?"

Krista smiled and shook her head. "No, you don't owe anything." A thought occurred to her. "Though I would appreciate it if you stayed and let me help you."

Ymir scoffed and rolled her eyes. "No and don't ask again. I'll be gone first thing in the morning."

Krista's shoulders dropped and she sighed. "Okay." She said meekly, heart slightly hurting at this woman's stubbornness. She could see that Ymir really didn't have anyone else, which was why she was so unapproachable, so her heart wanted to reach out to her and help. To just be someone who could be there for her, despite them hardly knowing each other at all.

Krista felt small and intimidated under Ymir's strong and overpowering personality, but she had a feeling that over time, if Ymir let her, she would learn to deal with it and counter it with the strong points of her own.

How she knew this Krista would never quite know, but she just did, so she decided to go with it.

"Look, I thanked you for the meal, so can I go back to sleep without you pestering me anymore?" Ymir spoke up from the kitchen doorway.

When had she moved from her spot at the sink?

"Uh… you don't want any company?"

"No."

"But… aren't you lonely?"

Ymir hesitated slightly, a flash of emotion clouding her eyes for a split second before she covered it up and smirked in humour. But Krista had seen it, and she knew that her odd hope wasn't ridiculous after all. "I think you are the lonely one here, Krista." Ymir titled her head to the side, that snarky grin still in place. "You just want to keep me here to keep you from crying alone in your bed before going to sleep, right?"

Krista sighed. "Not really." Ymir raised an eyebrow. "It's true that I am lonely but I don't cry myself to sleep and I'm not keeping you around for something selfish like that."

Ymir scoffed. "Right, whatever. So can I go back to sleep without expecting you to molest me or try to talk about feelings?"

Krista's cheeks puffed up in anger and she blushed. "I did not m-molest you! And I won't!" She looked down and pouted. "But fine, I'll leave you alone since I'm tired too." Krista raised her head. "Don't you want to stay awake while you're human, though?"

Ymir's smirk had dropped and now she simply looked bored. "Not really. I'm tired. Sleep seems more appealing. Leave me alone tomorrow too, if I'm still here when you wake." Ymir didn't wait for a response and disappeared into the lounge.

Krista sighed softly and headed back to her own room. She really did not want Ymir leaving but the brunette had the right to do what she wanted. If only she could just see that Krista could really help her, but she was so hostile and suspicious.

What had Ymir been subjected to in life to make her this cold towards other people?

XxX

The next morning Krista left early to visit the usual internet café she frequented. Ymir had still been sleeping since Krista had left at 7 a.m. and the blonde was sure she would be gone when she returned. That was the other reason Krista had left so early. She didn't want to have to watch Ymir leave again, since she felt a great deal of sadness about it. It would hurt worse to let her simply leave, alone and confused, than to just get home to an empty house, though that would probably hurt the same. So really, there was no easy way out of this, but Krista wanted to do some extra researching and decided to leave anyway.

She sat at the back of the café with a cup of coffee and her laptop set up on the table. The blonde typed away on her computer, alternating between different websites and switching between her different open tabs on her browser. There was only one topic she was searching; curses, spells, and human to animal transformation.

"Is everything fine here?" A server asked up after pausing by her table.

"Uh, can I get another one of these? Krista responded, pointing at her now empty cup.

"Of course." The pretty server offered a friendly smile, eyes lingering a little too long and then she scooped the cup up and left to place the order.

Krista continued clicking away and scrolling. She found a page about Lycanthropy and paused there to read what Wikipedia had to say on the topic.

The little blonde was so engrossed that she didn't even notice the arrival of a fresh cup of coffee. When she eventually tore her eyes away from her screen she noticed the cup and hurried to take a sip.

Krista scrubbed a hand over her face, still feeling tired. She hardly got any rest when her mind was this busy, especially last night. Ymir had plagued her dreams despite her trying to actually sleep this time.

The blonde returned to her avid researching and found a new source of information.

There was a spell one could use on someone, such as a cheating lover, a terrible boss, or a friend who was prone to betraying. Krista bit on her nail as she read through the instructions on how to cast such a spell. It instructed that the caster had to draw a 5 point pentagram within fresh soil at midnight, place either a DNA sample such as hair or saliva in the centre of the pentagram, and then draw a circle connecting the points while softly whispering the curse you wish to bestow upon your victim. (A/N: This is totally made up.)

Krista stopped reading to shiver for a moment and then she exited the page. That curse sounded hella creepy.

"Hard at work again?" Someone gracefully glided into the chair opposite Krista and asked with a cheerful grin.

"Petra!" Krista exclaimed happily and launched herself over the table to wrap her arms tightly around Petra's neck. The darker blonde laughed in delight and returned the hug with equal enthusiasm.

"Someone is happy to see me."

"I'm always happy to see you." Krista responded after retaking her seat and pushed her laptop to the side. It was important to socialize sometimes, and besides, Ymir would probably be gone when she returned home. So what was Krista trying to achieve? Trying to really help, maybe, though it was futile.

"Can I get you something to drink?" The server from earlier appeared upon noticing Krista's new companion and flashed the light blonde a smile.

Petra raised an eyebrow at their waitress but decided to keep her comments to herself and ordered whatever Krista was drinking, with a donut too. The server nodded with a smile but before she left she looked from Krista to Petra with suspicion.

"Are you two twins? You look awfully alike." The girl commented lightly. She sounded curious but Petra sensed another motive hidden in there, so she grinned heartily and shook her head.

"No, Krista and I are just cousins." She answered, giving the pretty waitress Krista's name. She seemed quite interested, though Krista hadn't seemed to notice yet. The server sighed in relief, not soft enough to escape Petra's sharp ears, and disappeared to get Petra's order done. When she was far enough away Petra leaned forward and regarded Krista with a serious expression.

"The waitress is interested in you." She said plainly, eyes locked onto Krista's as she waited for a response that was quick to come.

"What? No way." Krista laughed it off and shook her head as if it was the most absurd thing she had ever heard.

"Come on you bonehead, just look at her. She's ogling you."

Krista sighed and decided to humour Petra. She glanced over at the waitress tending to another table.

She was tall, and quite attractive with tanned skin and short black hair that stopped at her chin. When she glanced over seemingly trying to be sneaky about it, Krista caught her dark green eyes and they stared at each other for a moment before both of them widened their eyes and looked away quickly with their cheeks hot and red.

"See?" Petra nudged Krista's hand that was resting on the table and grinned. "You should ask for her number."

Krista bit her lip. Petra had been right. That glance had definitely been full of interest, though for what exactly Krista was unsure. She was sure that she found her very attractive though. The waitress reminded Krista of Ymir. She wasn't as tall and maybe an inch or two shorter, but she had the same tanned skin tone and strong aura about her presence. Her eyes weren't brown like Ymir's though, but she had the same strong jaw and straight nose.

Krista felt a pang in her heart when she realized that she was comparing this woman to Ymir. Was Ymir that attractive to her? Krista suddenly slunk down in her seat and sniffled sadly. She really didn't want the brunette to leave. It would really suck if she did. But how could she stop her? Ymir was so damn stubborn and proud that she refused help even though she knew that Krista could really help her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Petra noticed her cousin's sudden depression and covered her smaller hand with her own. "I didn't upset you, did I?" The concern in her voice made Krista smile in appreciation.

"No, but I don't think I'm ready to ask for anyone's number." Krista stated, hoping that the waitress wouldn't try to ask for hers instead. It broke her heart to have to reject people since it had happened a few times during her life after puberty.

"Okay, I'll leave you on that topic for now. So what were you researching so intensely? You did that tongue thing."

"What tongue thing?' Krista sat up straighter and scrunched her eyebrows together.

"When you concentrate really hard your tongue pokes out of the side of your mouth. It's so damn adorable. You were doing that from the moment I noticed you. So?"

Krista giggled and blushed. She hated that people noticed that weird habit of hers. At least everyone found it adorable. That made it a lot less embarrassing. "I was just doing extra research on a topic I find interesting."

"That being?"

The waitress returned with Petra's order. Krista avoided eye contact and instead focused on Petra. "Well I'm doing some searching on human to animal transformations caused by a curse or spell." After placing everything on the table the waitress bowed respectfully and left, somehow sensing that Krista wouldn't be interested. The blonde sighed in relief.

"You find the weirdest things to love." Petra commented. She took a big bite out of the donut, groaned in bliss and then washed it down with a heavenly cup of coffee. She closed her eyes for a moment to appreciate the angels frolicking on her taste buds and allowed a content smile to spread out on her lips. This made Krista giggle uncontrollably.

"What?"

"You still do that food orgasm face." Krista giggled again and covered her mouth with her hands.

Petra laughed as well and shrugged her shoulders. "I can't help how wonderful this donut is. Say, what are you doing after this?" Petra munched on the donut some more and sipped on her coffee while staring expectantly at Krista.

"I was just planning on spending a quiet day at home reading a book. I've got no assignments to do or anything."

Petra shoved the last bit of the donut in her mouth and chewed before she swallowed and downed the last of her coffee. "Wonderful! How about a girl's night?"

Krista considered it for a moment. Besides doing a little more research on what could help Ymir she really had just been planning on being alone at home. Maybe having Petra there would cheer her up after getting home to no Ymir, so the blonde nodded enthusiastically.

"That sounds perfect!"


	6. Chapter 6

_Sorry for being late with this update, I only got my hands on an internet connection now._

* * *

Chapter 6:

Sometime later Krista arrived home and was walking towards her front door. She sighed softly in dread and searched in her shoulder bag for the house keys. Once found she stuck the key in the lock and turned it. The door unlocked with a distinctive clink and Krista pushed the door open.

"Alone like always." Krista muttered under her breath and shut the door behind her.

_Goddamnit this is so much more difficult without thumbs._

The familiar gruff voice filled Krista's mind, startling the blonde and making her pulse spike. Could it be?

Krista slowly walked down the passage and turned into the lounge. No one was there, so she turned and headed into her room. The blankets and pillows were strewn across the floor along with Krista's underwear from her drawer. The blonde didn't have time to blush as she stepped up to her bathroom and her eyes came to rest on a familiar animal standing in the shower.

_Fucking paws. _

"Ymir!" Krista exclaimed, dropped her bag and rushed over to the husky. "You stayed!" She wrapped her arms around Ymir's neck and buried her face against the rusty brown fur.

_No, I didn't stay, I just haven't left yet._ Ymir grumbled in reply but made no move to get Krista off of her. _Can you turn the shower on for me? I smell like a dog and it's killing me._

Krista wiped the tears from her face and sat up with a giggle. "Yeah, you do need a bath." Glaring brown eyes flashed up at her and Krista couldn't help but smile. She was happier about this than she should have been.

_So?_

"Why don't you wait until you're in human form?"

_The smell is overpowering. I think I still have blood all over me. Please, just put the goddamn shower on._

"I'll bath you then, come with me to the other bathroom." Krista turned to the door.

_Wait up short stuff, you are not touching my body._

"But how will you wash yourself?"

_I'll figure it out._

Krista looked down at Ymir and gave her two thumbs up, wiggling them with a tiny grin. Ymir rolled her eyes and trotted out of the bathroom.

_Fine, but if you start molesting me I will bite your face off._

"Don't worry, I'm not into beastiality."

_I worry that you even know what that is._

Krista giggled. She couldn't help it. Though Ymir was being her usual snarky self the blonde was overjoyed and nothing could dampen her spirits.

They both entered the bathroom that sat beside Krista's room and then the blonde started by filling the tub with water and making sure she had shampoo and enough towels.

"Okay Ymir, hop in." Krista waved a hand towards the bathtub and waited for the husky to jump in. Ymir sat there for a moment, contemplating her options, and then omitted a canine sigh and climbed into the bath while glaring as evilly as she could at the blonde.

_No sexual harassment._

"Do I really look like a pervert?" Krista asked with furrowed brows.

_It's always the 'innocent' ones you have to watch out for._ Ymir sat down in the water and lifted her chin as if she was royalty and Krista her servant. Maybe if she imagined that it was that for a moment she would be able to get through this feeling less weird.

"Just sit there and be good and this will be over before you know it."

Ymir snorted in reply and closed her eyes.

Krista started by wetting Ymir's fur with the warm water, and then she squirted a healthy amount of shampoo into her palm and started rubbing it into Ymir's thick coat. The brunette had been right, there was still dried blood clotted in between her hair. The water gained little clouds of red when drops fell off of Ymir's fur.

Krista relaxed her tense muscles and smiled contentedly as she massages and washed Ymir's body. It was really awkward at first because Krista knew that this dog she was touching also happened to be a really tall woman. It was kind of flustering her, the mental images she was unconsciously creating in her mind.

Ymir wasn't having an easier time of it. She kept feeling like Krista was caressing her human body and not just her dog body. It felt strange and Ymir was grateful for the hair on her face because she knew she was blushing. Could dogs even blush? Well, she wasn't actually a dog so it didn't matter. The brunette just wanted this over with so she could go and sit in a corner and feel sorry for herself like she had been doing since this thing started.

There was nothing she could think of to cure this situation, no matter how hard she had thought about it. Having paws didn't exactly help in her internet searching so that hadn't even been an option. Ymir sighed.

_Are you done yet?_

"Almost." Krista grabbed the bucket she had used earlier and poured clean water from the tap over Ymir to get the shampoo out. When the brunette's fur was shampoo free, Krista pulled the plug and grabbed a towel she had set beside the bath. "You can get out now."

_I don't need a towel._

"It's cold, I should dry you off in case you get sick."

_The bath was enough. I'll dry naturally._

"Ymir, stop being so stubborn." Krista attempted to cover Ymir with the towel but the husky growled and dashed out of the room. "Ymir! Stop resisting!" Krista chased after her into the lounge and found her standing by the fire place, teeth bared.

_Make a fire and I'll sit here to dry._

"Sure! Just let me dry you off first. You're getting water all over my floor."

Ymir growled, low and long. _Come near me and I will bite you._

Krista rolled her eyes. "Right." She really didn't believe any of the threats the brunette had made. Sure, she acted all tough but she wouldn't actually attack or anything. The blonde advanced forward and she and Ymir started circling around each other.

"Hey Krista, the door was –" Petra entered the lounge and paused at the entrance.

The sound of her voice had distracted Ymir, whose ears perked up and she turned her attention to the newcomer. Krista took this advantage and dove into the air, tackling Ymir and wrapping the towel around her.

_Damnit! Why are short people so fast? _Ymir grumbled and whimpered to get Petra's attention as Krista quickly towelled her dry until she was only just damp. _Who is the pretty blonde? Short blondes are totally my type._ Ymir commented to herself, forgetting that Krista could hear her thoughts. Ymir tilted her head._ She has a nice ass too._

Krista slapped Ymir with the towel and sent her a glare. She was blushing intensely too, partly from now knowing she was Ymir's type and also because she was checking Petra out. She wasn't very sure if it was her protectiveness that made her upset or if she was jealous. Krista decided to go with the protectiveness.

"Hey Petra! Excuse me for a bit, I just need to put this towel in the wash basked and clean the floor." Krista left the room to do as she had said.

Petra just raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know she got a dog." She commented softly to herself and walked slowly towards the husky watching her with intense blue eyes. Wait a minute… Petra paused. Intelligent blue eyes. Brown fur. Husky. This couldn't be? "Hey there." Petra sat down on the couch and watched as Ymir walked over to her, ears folded against her head. She uttered a soft whine and Petra smiled.

_Time to use my charm._ Ymir acted as cute as possible.

When Krista returned she found Ymir sitting at Petra's feet, looking up with rapt attention. It only took a second for her to realize that Ymir was staring up Petra's skirt. She felt a vein in her temple throb.

"Petra, come here please." Krista called and headed into the kitchen.

_Aww, there goes my view._ Ymir thought with an inner smirk and watched Petra disappear into the kitchen.

"Is that the dog I mentioned? Why didn't you tell me?" Petra asked.

Krista sighed and nibbled on her lower lip. Could she tell her?" "Well, you see…" Krista looked into Petra's curious eyes and decided that she couldn't. No one would believe her and it wasn't her right to tell Ymir's secrets, not even to her cousin. "Yeah, I found her." She ended with a cheerful smile.

"Never thought you would actually get a dog."

Ymir entered and brushed against Petra's legs and then she walked over to the fridge and paced a paw against it, staring right up into Krista's eyes.

"It's only temporary though, until… until I find her owners." Krista said and ignored Ymir's eye roll. Luckily Petra hadn't noticed, but then she looked over and saw Ymir with her paw against the fridge.

"I think she's hungry." The older woman commented. "That's some freaky intelligence there. Even this dog's gaze is intense. I've never seen this before."

Ymir's tail swished back and forth in annoyance. _The other midget is right, I'm hungry. Could you be so kind as to feed me, oh dutiful master?_

Krista bit down on her tongue to keep from retorting back at Ymir's sarcasm. If she did Petra would send her to a mental hospital. Okay, maybe not but she would look damn weird being sarcastic to a dog that appeared to just be watching. Krista sighed.

"Fine, fine. Petra, do you want something too?"

"Sure."

XxX

They spent the rest of the day chatting and watching movies. As night fell Krista grew increasingly restless. She was scared that Ymir would suddenly turn, and since the husky was sprawled out across Petra's lap, that wouldn't end well. Just thinking about what would happen if Ymir did turn and Petra ended up with a sexy naked person on her lap made Krista want to giggle and panic at the same time.

Ymir wasn't being very clean with her thoughts either, aggravating Krista further. The brunette was being sickeningly sweet and Petra was completely charmed.

Krista wasn't sure, again, why she was so bothered, and she tried to ignore it as best she could. Luckily when it had gotten much later Petra stood after ushering Ymir off of her lap and stretched with a tired yawn.

"I think it's time to hit the sack." She said and yawned again. "Night, 'cuz."

Krista bid her goodnight and watched her cousin disappear into the guest room. The moment she was gone Krista snapped her attention to Ymir and frowned. "Stop being such a pervert. Leave Petra alone." She hissed softly.

Ymir raised a furry eyebrow and attempted a chuckle as best she could. _Jealous, are we?_

Krista's cheeks puffed up and reddened. "I'm not j-jealous!" She exclaimed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm just upset that an animal has been flirting with my cousin for the entire day."

_I'm not an animal. I'm a human stuck in a dog form. You are making it increasingly hard not to bite you._

"You wouldn't bite me."

_I would._

"Prove it."

They stared off for a long moment, and then Ymir looked to the side and hopped of the couch. _You probably taste bad._ She said simply and headed into Krista's bedroom. The blonde followed.

"Where are you going?"

_To bed, I'm tired._

"On my bed?" Ymir had hopped up onto Krista's bed and turned in a circle to situate herself at the right side of the bed. She stared at Krista with those intense eyes and flicked her tail.

_You have a guest here, remember? Imagine her surprise if she wakes up in the middle of the night for a glass of water or something and there is this naked goddess on your couch._

Krista's face flushed at the mental image. "R-right. You have a good point. But can't you sleep on the floor?"

Ymir glared. _I would prefer not to sleep on the floor. With this dog body it's fine but I'm sure it will hurt when I turn._

Krista sighed, feeling bad for making the suggestion. "Right, sorry. Okay, you can sleep on my bed but do not move over to my side!" The blonde warned and only looked away from Ymir's eyes when the husky nodded her head in understanding.

Krista grabbed her shirt and boxers from her cupboard and went to change in the bathroom. There was no way she would undress in front of that perverted Ymir. Though the thought of doing so made Krista swallow and blush slightly.

Ymir rested her head on her paws and stared at the closed bathroom door. She was disappointed that Krista wouldn't change in front of her, though she probably would have been surprised if she had. At least she had seen the blonde completely naked before. That had been a memorable moment, but memories could never compare to the real thing.

Ymir sighed in her mind. _I really need to get laid. I'm even disturbing myself_.

Krista finished up and walked back into the bedroom, pretending like she hadn't just heard that thought from Ymir. Her red cheeks gave away that she had, though.

"Goodnight Ymir." Krista said curtly and slipped under the blanket. She rested comfortably and snuggled into a ball, head resting against her pillow.

Ymir stood up and glanced over at Krista's form. _She is so small._ Ymir thought, forgetting once more that Krista could still hear her thoughts. _It's kind of cute…_ The husky used her nose to move the blanket enough so that she could climb under and then she curled into a ball as well and rested her head against the pillow.

Krista lay still with a hand over her face, hoping to calm or at least hide the blazing scarlet of her cheeks. She thinks I'm cute, Krista thought. Her heart fluttered slightly and the blonde furrowed her brows, unsure of why this made her feel so strange.

Krista simply shrugged it off and closed her eyes to join the others in sleep.

XxX

Krista woke just after midnight. She sensed a missing warmth and forced herself out of her unconscious to investigate what had disappeared from her bed. When she finally opened her eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them she noticed that the space where Ymir had occupied was empty, and her stomach dropped like a stone.

Had she left when Krista was asleep? Was she just waiting for everyone to go to sleep before sneaking out? Why would she leave? Krista had been so happy that she had stayed and had still been prepared to convince her to help. But she left!

Krista jumped out of bed, her mind running on assumptions and fears, and stumbled into the lounge. Everything was dark and quiet as it should be, but then there was a soft hum and Krista's eyes widened.

It was soft and surprisingly melodious.

Krista followed the sound into the kitchen and paused at the doorway, staring with a blush at Ymir standing by the fridge, one arm draped across the top of it, the other at the door as she gripped the handle. The luminous yellow light spilled out across Ymir's naked body, highlighting and accentuating every tight muscle and toned curve.

Alright, so Ymir hadn't left. In fact, she had just gotten up to empty the fridge again. This is where Krista always seemed to find Ymir at this time. In her kitchen, looking for or cooking food. The relief that flooded through Krista's system was almost as shameful as the heat she was feeling looking at Ymir's bare behind.

"Uh…" Krista cleared her throat, getting Ymir's attention.

"Oh, it's the midget. Hey." Ymir turned to give her a look, smirked at how flushed she was and how it was noticeable even in the shallow light, and turned back to the contents of the fridge. "Since you're up, make something for me to eat." Ymir shut the fridge door and leaned against it. She lifted her leg and rested her foot against the fridge to obscure the area between her legs and crossed her arms over her breasts, successfully concealing her intimate areas from Krista's view. Ymir enjoyed seeing her so flustered but felt slightly bad. She didn't want the blonde to pass out or anything, and she was quite hungry so pissing Krista off now was a bad idea.

"S-sure, what do you want?" Krista stuttered in reply, still not looking back at Ymir's form. Her heart was pounding and she had butterflies in her stomach. What were these strange feelings and why was Ymir the cause? "C-could you get some clothes on?"

"Meat. I'm craving meat. Nothing else. The meatiest meat you have." Ymir answered and reached over to grab the shirt and boxers she had carried with her to the kitchen in case this happened and then slipped them on.

"Well I don't know how meaty steak can get, but I've got a big piece."

Ymir nearly started drooling. As of late she had been getting incredible craving for pure meat, which was why she always had her head stuck in the fridge when she could.

The brunette took a seat at the island counter and laid down on her arms to watch Krista switch the kitchen light on and get to work on the food for her. She noted that Krista wasn't making anything for herself and felt slightly uncomfortably guilty.

Guilty? Ymir never felt guilty, so why now? Maybe because she was taking advantage of Krista when all the smaller girl had done was offer her kindness and help.

Ymir grumbled softly to herself and considered that maybe accepting Krista's offer to help wouldn't be so bad. "So, you said you did some research on this stupid curse I'm under?" Ymir asked nonchalantly, eyes focused on the surface of the table.

Krista paused at the stove and glanced over to Ymir in surprise. Did this mean…? "Yeah, I did. I found a lot of useful information." Krista answered eagerly. She turned back to the sizzling meat with a grin and felt her heart soar. This was it! Ymir was possibly going to accept her help. There was no other reason for her to ask.

"Find the cure yet?"

Krista giggled. "Ymir it's a curse, not a disease." The brunette just snorted in response, uncaring of her mistake. "And I did find some clues. What I think is that you must have upset someone, and that someone must have put this curse on you."

"How?"

Krista finished at the stove and carried the plate over to Ymir. "Well there's one method that requires a drawn pentagram in the soil at midnight."

Ymir cringed. "That shit is creepy." Krista nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "So you think that's it?"

The blonde shrugged. "It could be. I mean, it's a start. So, can I have a list of people you've upset?"

Ymir chuckled humourlessly and glanced over at Krista. "You mean a list of the entire population?"

"You can't be that bad."

Ymir shrugged and started in on the steak. "I'm not very pleasant, as you've seen."

"Alright," Krista put a finger to her chin in thought. "We need to start somewhere. What type of people would want to get revenge? Oh!" Krista put her hands on the table and leaned over towards Ymir. The brunette raised an eyebrow and leaned back in her chair, creating the distance that Krista had shortened. "Lovers!"

Ymir's eyebrow shot higher. "Lovers?"

"Yes! Someone you've, uh," Krista eyed Ymir for a second, "dated? could have been really upset when you dumped them!"

"I don't date. I just fuck around." Krista deflated. "But I did have a few crazies who stalked me for a while after. One of them even pinned their underwear to my front door in a heart shape." Ymir focused back on her steak.

"That doesn't surprise me, actually." Krista was itching to ask if it had been a girl or a guy but Ymir was smartly avoiding the use of words that would give the gender away. "So… can you remember who these people are?"

"I can make a list." Ymir shoved the last of the steak in her mouth and then pushed Krista back with a finger to her forehead. "I need my space, midget."

"Don't call me a midget. I'm not _that _short." Krista stated with puffed up cheeks.

"Yes you are. If we walked in town together people would probably think you're my daughter."

"Ymir! Stop it!"

Ymir stood up and went over to Krista, and grinned down at her. Even sitting on the chair Krista just barely made it to her shoulders. "See?"

"Jerk!" Krista jumped out of her chair and head-butted Ymir, surprising the brunette enough to make her eyes widen. She wasn't surprised enough to stumble, but she did catch Krista as the girl collided with her chest.

"Oh you will regret that." Ymir growled, eye twitching and jaw tight. Her forehead throbbed and it would probably bruise.

"Serves you right for calling me a midget." Krista folded her arms, not noticing that she was still being held up in Ymir's arms, feet not even touching the floor.

"Uh… Krista?" The confused voice came from the kitchen door and both Ymir and Krista froze. Petra. Crap. "Who is your… friend?"

"Petra!" Krista shoved Ymir away from her and the brunette rolled her eyes but stood back to let Krista take care of coming up with something. She was still upset about the head-butt.

"Who…?" Petra glanced between Krista and Ymir, eyes lingering on the brunette's sparsely clad body. She was probably wondering what a half-naked woman that she did not know was doing embracing her cousin in the kitchen at one in the morning.

"Oh? Her?" Krista made a show of noticing Ymir and looked surprised. Ymir nearly face-palmed herself but made herself act bored and leave everything to the panicking blonde. "This is my… uh… friend! She's a new neighbour and uh, she… she came to say hi."

Petra scrunched her eyebrows up in absolute confusion. "At one in the morning?"

"Yes! Uh, you see, we're kind of close! Like best friends close!"

Petra could immediately sense the terrible acting and horribly presented lies, but she decided to go along with it anyway. "And she is in boxers why…?"

"She's a nudist!" Krista squeaked out. She didn't even dare look over at Ymir who was now glaring at her. She could just feel those piercing brown eyes attempting to burn holes into the back of her head. "And, I gave her these clothes to wear. Be glad she's wearing this at all." Krista started laughing nervously and rubbed the back of her head.

Ymir and Petra shared a glance and Ymir instantly knew that she wasn't even close to convinced. Good, because if she was then she was an idiot.

"Oh look at the time. Ymir, it was nice hugging and all…" Krista started pulling Ymir over to the front door and shoved her outside before the brunette had time to respond.

"Krista, what the hell?" Ymir hissed softly, eyes quickly darting to the suspicious cousin standing in the hallway and then back to the blonde.

"Just stay out here until I get Petra to go back to bed." Krista whispered back. "See you tomorrow, Ymir! Good luck with the kids!" Krista said loudly, laughing.

"Kids? Krista what the fuck –" Krista quickly closed the door to cut the rest of Ymir's loud protest off.

"She didn't seem too pleased." Petra commented.

"Well, uh, she's on her period and all and uh… she… she's just moody all the time!" Krista's heart was absolutely pounding and she just wanted to cry. Not even she was stupid enough to think that she was convincing anyone.

"Mm, right. Now let's go and sit down so you can explain to me who that sexy woman is and why you were keeping her a secret." Petra grabbed Krista's hands and pulled the reluctant blonde into the lounge where she pushed her down onto the couch and sat beside her. "Spill it."

"There is nothing to spill." Krista responded, hands balled into tight fists on her lap.

"Come on, you know I don't believe that story. Is she a girlfriend?" Petra's eyes widened. "Or a secret fling? Come on! Talk to me, Krista."

Krista sighed, cheeks red. Ymir as her girlfriend? The thought made her shudder. Ymir was so damn difficult that she probably didn't function well in a relationship at all. Beside, Krista probably didn't even have a chance, even if she had wanted one.

"Alright! Her name is Ymir but she is not my girlfriend or a fling."

"Then why was she wearing one of the many boxers Reiner left here? And that shirt she was wearing is the one Eren gave to you when you'd stained yours in town that one day." Petra pointed out. "You both looked pretty intimate there."

Krista huffed. "I'm not going to say anything. Petra, just drop it. I wish I could tell you but I can't. Please leave it for now, please? Ymir and I are nothing more than friends, I swear." She was starting to get a headache. Krista sighed heavily and pressed her fists to her temples.

Petra noticed Krista's distress and sighed to herself. "Okay, fine. But the moment you are able to tell me who this Ymir is and why she was here, please do. I'm going back to bed since I only got up to pee. I still need to pee though. Night, Krista." Petra got up and left the room, eyebrows pulled together in frustration and a frown on her lips. Why was Krista so reluctant to tell her? But she did respect her cousin so she would leave it for now. Only for now.

Krista waited ten minutes after Petra disappeared back into the guest room before she rushed over and threw the front door open. "Ymir, I am SO sorry." She tumbled out of the door and looked around the front patio for the brunette.

Ymir was standing by the railing, leaning on it and staring up at the sky. It was still covered over with dark clouds, hiding all of the stars that would have been pretty at this hour if they could see it.

"You suck at lying." Ymir finally said after letting Krista sweat enough. "If this was a life or death situation, we would have been dead right now."

Krista walked up to Ymir and stopped beside her. "I'm sorry. I know that was terrible, and Petra didn't believe any of it. She did back off when I asked her to, though."

"Good." Ymir still looked up at the sky. "I don't think I want anyone else knowing about this yet. Or ever." She finally looked down at the blonde. "I'll write that list down tonight and then tomorrow we can start the interrogation."

"Interrogation?"

Ymir raised an annoyed eyebrow. "Were you just going to ask the names if they were pissed off enough at me? Idiot. We have to actually ask these people if they did anything."

Krista blushed slightly but ignored the insult. "Right, sorry. I'm tired and all, so…"

"Go to bed, now. We'll talk about this tomorrow." Ymir grabbed the front of Krista's shirt and pulled her into the house. Krista squeaked in surprise and flailed around as the tall brunette dragged her all the way to her room and dumped her on the bed. "I'll come to bed when I'm back in dog form." Ymir didn't spare a glance and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

She went into the living room and found Krista's bag where she pulled a pad of paper and a pen out.

"Okay, where do I start?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

When morning came Petra and Krista shared an awkward breakfast. Petra had been itching to enquire about last night's incident but couldn't, so she ended up staying silent and focusing too hard on the food. Krista did the same, lost in her own thoughts of the previous night.

She felt like she had finally gotten Ymir to see she could help, even just a little. And the brunette was maybe even learning to trust her. It couldn't happen that soon though, Krista knew this, and it would take a while for Ymir to eventually learn to trust her and to open up to her.

Krista already trusted Ymir, which struck the blonde as odd considering how they didn't really know each other yet and Ymir had shown nothing but hostility. She still felt that way though.

Eventually breakfast ended and Petra had to leave. They said goodbye with a long hug, shared an awkward smile and then parted. The moment the door was closed and they were alone, Krista turned to Ymir standing patiently beside her and smiled.

"The list?"

_On your coffee table._

Krista found the list where Ymir had said it would be and squinted at the handwriting. "Are these names? I can't read your handwriting at all."

Ymir sighed and jumped up beside Krista on the couch to see the paper. _Let me read it for you then, shorty. Number one – _

"Are they numbered according to how mad they were at you, or did you put them alphabetically? Or are they just randomly numbered?" Krista asked, interrupting the husky's thoughts.

Ymir snorted, unimpressed. _These 10 people were the most upset at me, that much I can remember. How am I supposed to remember who hated me the most? _

"I was just asking…"

_Anyway, let's just go to the first one on the list and I'll tell you who they are as we tick their names off. _

"Okay."

XxX

Half an hour later Krista was driving through an unfamiliar neighbourhood with Ymir sitting in the seat beside her, leaning up on the dashboard to see the houses as they passed them.

"So, who is the first person we're checking?"

_Alex._

"Hmm…" Krista frowned. Ymir still wasn't giving her any clues as to what gender these people were. She could definitely not make out her terrible handwriting and Ymir seemed to enjoy putting the blonde through this suspense. Krista didn't even understand why this mattered so much. It didn't matter who Ymir was attracted to, though Krista had concluded that she was either into girls only or she was into them as well as guys, if her dirty thoughts on Petra was any indication. The thing is, Krista didn't just want to assume in case Ymir had just been messing with her and not actually mentally flirting with her cousin. It was also an incredibly uncomfortable and weird mental image to picture Ymir being with a man. It just felt… wrong. Krista shuddered.

_Stop at this house, this is it._

Krista looked to where Ymir pointed her nose and then parked her car in the driveway. It was a moderate house with a neatly trimmed garden, seemingly well taken care of.

"Are you sure this is it?"

_I'd never forget this house. I had to hide at the back once, naked and fearing for my life._

They reached the door and Krista rang the bell. "Fearing for your life? Why would you do that?"

The door swished open and a large, very muscular man with absolutely no hair and a giant dragon tattoo on his face stood there, looming over the now shivering blonde. Ymir and this guy couldn't have…?

"I-is Alex here?" Krista asked, now fearing for her life too.

The beast of a man eyed Krista up and down for a moment and then he smiled gently and moved to the side. "Yes, come in. What is a cute girl like you looking for Alex for?" His voice was deep but it sounded gentle and friendly, and the smile helped to ease the look of murder on his face.

Krista relaxed slightly and stepped in, but she was still pretty tense. "I hope you don't mind my dog coming with me, she helps with my anxiety problems."

"It's no problem, as long as she doesn't mess. You can take a seat in the lounge. Alex should be home soon." He ushered her to the living room and disappeared into the kitchen.

Krista didn't have time to look around the room because the huge man had returned with glasses of orange juice. Krista accepted a glass with a smile and a nod and glanced down at Ymir at her feet. The husky looked uncomfortable, ears folded back on her head and her nose was twitching. Her eyes were also darting to all of the exits of the room.

"My name is Gregory, you can call me Greg. Do you know Alex?"

"Krista." The blonde grabbed the outstretched hand and shook it, surprised at how soft the handshake was despite how big and meaty the man's hand was. "I don't actually. I'm here to investigate a murder."

Ymir's ears perked and she glanced up Krista but the blonde only smiled at her and turned back to Gregory. "I'll need to wait for Alex before I can disclose any information, though."

"I completely understand." Gregory said. The sound of a door opening drew their attention and Gregory stood quickly. "That should be Alex." He disappeared down the hall and then returned a moment later.

Krista felt her heart jerk when she caught sight of Alex.

It was a woman, but not just a woman. She was absolutely gorgeous to supermodel standards. She had long, wavy blonde hair that stopped just to the middle of her back and giant, bouncing breasts. Her skin was pale and her lips full and red. Her eyes were a light shade of intense blue, and when they noticed Krista sitting and timidly watching her, they shone with confusion and turned to Gregory standing beside her.

There was absolutely nothing imperfect about this woman, besides her shortness. She must have been two or three inches taller than Krista, but she was still a dwarf compared to the giant that was Gregory.

"Honey, who is our guest?" Alex asked, voice thick and warm like honey. It made Krista swallow and hide her blush.

Ymir sighed internally. _Those tits haven't aged a day…_ She thought dreamily. Krista ignored Ymir's perving and stood to shake Alex's soft hand.

"Hi, my name is Krista and I'm an investigator. I need to ask you a few questions."

_Why didn't you tell me you were pretending to investigate my death? This is pissing me off. I'm not dead. I know you're pretending and all, but give me some warning!_

Again Krista ignored Ymir's thoughts and focused on the task at hand.

"Oh?" Alex said and glanced worriedly at Gregory. "Has something happened?"

They all took a seat and Krista pulled a small notebook out of her jacket. "Alex, is it?"

"Yes, Alex Smith."

Krista nodded and jotted that down. "Mrs Smith."

"Just call me Alex, please." Alex said and glanced at Gregory again. He merely shrugged his shoulders, as confused as her. She took his hand and attempted a smile. "I hope nothing terrible has happened." She said softly.

_She looks piss scared. This is hilarious!_ Ymir thought._ Drag it out some more and make them sweat and think her mother died or something._

Krista had to pause and glance down at Ymir. The husky felt her gaze and looked up. Even Ymir felt a little intimidated by the intense glare Krista was giving her, so she decided to shut up and take a nap or something.

"I am here to ask if you know of a Ymir?"

The couple visibly stiffened at the name. Alex shifted her eyes to the floor and Gregory's face started turning red while the veins in his throat popped out and pulsed.

"What did that bitch do now?"

Krista was taken aback with this extremely negative response and had to swallow her anger down. Why was she angry about it anyway? Ymir probably deserved how they felt about her. She still didn't like Ymir being insulted though.

"Well, sir, she was murdered a week ago and we are investigating the possible suspects. We found a list of names in her house and Alex was one of them. Were you a close friend?" Krista poised her pen above the paper, looking expectantly at both of them.

"Murdered, huh?" Alex said softly, eyes still down cast but shocked and enraged at the same time.

"Serves that cunt right." Gregory growled, no longer sounding as friendly as he had earlier. Krista took one look at his furious face and realized exactly why Ymir had feared for her life, for whatever reason.

"Did either of you have a reason to kill Ymir?" Krista questioned, making sure she looked as suspiciously at them as possible. Anyone would suspect him within the first second, with the way he was speaking.

"Of course I do. That bitch seduced my wife and fucked her in _my_ bed. She was lucky I didn't kill her when it happened! She was lucky she was so damn tall or else she wouldn't have been able to run away that fast and escape. I wish I had killed her, but no, I didn't." Gregory responded.

Alex put a hand on his knee to calm him, but it didn't seem to work very well. "This happened about 2 years go. We have not seen or heard of Ymir since. All I shared with her was a terrible choice one night. I'm sorry but that's all I have to give you."

Krista studied them for a long moment. Alex seemed upset about Ymir's 'murder', so the blonde concluded she wouldn't have been the one to curse her. Gregory, on the other hand, seemed the type to have actually killed Ymir with his bare hands. He didn't seem at all the type to resort to any form of black magic for revenge. If he had wanted revenge he would have sought the brunette out and either beat her until she could barely move, or kill her.

So it wasn't these two, but Krista had to make super sure anyway.

"I see. Thank you. Can I use your bathroom before leaving?" Krista asked, already standing. Alex nodded slowly and Gregory didn't even respond.

Krista swallowed, guilty at having opened up old wounds for them and sought the bathroom out down the hall.

"You slept with a married woman? Ymir, how low can you get?"

_Oh please, she is the one that seduced me. We met at a bar when her husband was out of town for work. I have to say, she enjoyed our time together as much as I did. Best tits I have ever had the pleasure of seeing or touching. _Ymir chuckled, the sound coming out as a weird bark. _Almost best fuck of my life_.

Krista just sighed and walked past the bathroom and into the last room in the passage.

_What are you doing?_ Ymir asked, confused.

"Looking for any evidence of them putting a spell on you. There could be a cult book, certain types of candles, anything out of the ordinary." Krista responded.

_I'll help then._ Ymir disappeared into the other room and together they made quick work of searching the rooms. When all of them had been cleared they had one more place to look. Outside at the back.

"Well, thank you for your cooperation. If you remember anything that could help in this case, or hear anything, please contact me." Krista handed a card she had made that morning to them and bid her farewell.

Alex was kind enough to greet her back but Gregory just stomped off to another part of the house and didn't even look back.

Once outside Krista crouched down to Ymir's level and put a hand on her head.

_Why are you touching me?_

"Just keep quiet and listen. They will probably see me if I go so I need you to check the backyard. Look at any spots with soil for any signs of shapes drawn into it, okay?"

Ymir grumbled internally and nodded. _I expect a reward for this._

"My help is reward enough." Krista responded and watched Ymir disappear around the house. She waited by her car, leaning against the side until Ymir came trotting back.

_There's nothing, I double checked. _

"Okay." Krista climbed in and waited for Ymir to jump in beside her. She removed the small book and crossed Alex's name off of the list. "Now we need to check the other names. By the way, you really like blonde women, don't you?"

Ymir shrugged as best she could and looked on with boredom. _Yeah, I have since I can remember. You aren't one of those lesbian haters, are you? I won't hesitate to bite your face off I you are._

Krista rolled her eyes and started her car. "I'm far from it, Ymir. I like my face, by the way, so stop threatening to eat it."

_I'll stop threatening you when you stop looking annoying to me._

Krista just ignored Ymir and drove off. Eventually she had to turn to the husky and speak. "So, who is our next target?"

_Her name is Saya._ Ymir responded. _Take the next left and I'll direct us there. It's at the far side town though. Do we have enough time?_

Krista sighed but nodded. "Might as well get it over with now before I get swamped with assignments again. At least winter break is almost here and then I can really help you wean out the psycho exes."

XxX

"So, Ymir." Krista spoke up to hopefully start conversation. They had been driving for a bit in silence and Krista couldn't take it anymore. "Tell me about yourself." Ymir didn't respond, so Krista continued. "What do you do, career wise? Do you work or are you still studying?"

Ymir lifted her head to give Krista a blank stare and then rested back down on the seat. Krista sighed but shrugged it off.

"I'm busy studying journalism. It's been my dream since I was a little girl to report the news and keep the world informed. Secretly I plan on exposing government secrets and corruption."

Ymir snorted. _Yeah, and get yourself killed._

Krista was thrilled that Ymir had responded and ignored her pessimistic thoughts. "Of course I've never actually revealed that to anyone. I know it's a dangerous dream, but I'm determined to do it. Someone has to!"

_Why do you think that someone is you? What makes you so special?_

"If not me, then who?"

_I'm sure someone out there is as stupid as you._

Krista frowned. "You're mean, Ymir..." She said with slight hurt.

_I never claimed to be nice_, Ymir responded.

Krista kept her eyes forward, following the directions Ymir had given her to a different part of town where Saya hopefully still lived. Now that they were conversing, she decided that it was time to pose the question that had been on her mind the entire day.

"Ymir, what happened to you to get you all bloody and injured?" Krista asked softly, hesitant to ask because she didn't want Ymir to ignore her again, but she needed to ask.

_None of your business._

"I need to know if I'm going to help you..."

_No._

"Please, Ymir? I'll… uh…" Krista bit her lip, trying to think of what would appeal to the brunette that wouldn't require too much effort. Krista thought of something and blushed scarlet red. She was desperate to know, and Ymir wouldn't be that mad if she didn't go through with her end of the deal if she agreed… Krista took a breath, steeling her nerves, and then finally finished her sentence with the most embarrassing thing she had ever offered in her life. "I'll let you see my boobs?" She suggested, face flaming red. It was a dirty tactic to use and she knew it, but she really was desperate.

_... No._

Krista sighed in relief but pressed on, even more desperate now to know. "Please? Did someone attack you? Did you fall or something? What happened?"

Ymir sighed internally. _If I tell you will you stop annoying me?_

"Yes!"

Ymir sighed again. _Fine. _She sat up and glanced out of the window, noticing that they were almost at Saya's house. It was still far enough away that arriving wouldn't save her. _There is a group of stray dogs in the area and when they caught my scent and saw me wandering around they attacked me. I don't know how to properly use this damn animal body yet so I didn't know how to defend myself. Luckily some guy walking past saw the commotion and chased the dogs off. I don't remember much after that, and then I woke up and you were there._

Krista glanced sympathetically at Ymir and wished she could convey some type of comfort to her. She could tell Ymir was the type to do things in a solitary manner and probably wouldn't be impressed if she suddenly hugged her... Especially since Krista was driving.

"That's terrible!" Krista exclaimed. "Please don't wander off on your own again, it's dangerous."

Ymir just swished her tail around and focused back onto the road.

"We're here." Krista announced after parking in the correct driveway and switching the car off. "Are you ready?"

_As I'll ever be. _


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

They both climbed out of the car and made their way to the door. Krista took a moment to squint her eyes at the weird pink house. It had a green roof with light pink walls and a white fence surrounding it.

"Should I worry?" Krista asked softly.

_Let's just say Saya isn't all there in terms of sanity._

"What did she do?"

_Ask her and you'll find out._

Krista couldn't respond because the door flung open – before she had even knocked – and a pretty blonde stood at the entrance, staring through narrowed eyes.

"Who are you?" She asked bluntly, the suspicion in her dark blue eyes making Krista want to fidget.

"Uh, hi. I'm detective Renz and I'm here to ask you about Ymir." The moment Krista said 'Ymir' the suspicion in the other blonde's eyes dropped and she gasped loudly.

"Ymir?! Where is she? Is she here? What happened?"

Krista looked at her for a moment, swallowing her apprehension down before she pointed past the other blonde and spoke. "Can I come in? It would be easier to discuss this with some privacy. I hope you don't mind my dog, she accompanies me for security."

The other blonde gasped and stepped away from the door. "Of course, and I don't mind at all! Come on in and tell me all about Ymir. Are you a girlfriend? Wife? Mistress?" She sounded half crazed, making Krista hesitate in stepping through the front door.

_She may sound like she will but she won't kill you. There is a possibility that she might kidnap you, but I doubt she will. You aren't her type at all._

Krista sighed softly but stepped inside and followed Saya into the lounge. She gulped softly and refrained from gaping at the hundreds of pictures of different women on her wall. They all looked very similar to Ymir – and her picture was included – and there had to be about 20 different women. They all seemed to be unaware of the picture though. Just how crazy was Saya?

"Please excuse my manners. I'm kind of on the police watch list at the moment. Anyway, you mentioned Ymir?" Her eyes sparkled and Krista felt not one ounce of guilt at having to lie to her.

"I am sorry to inform you but Ymir was involved in a robbery a few days ago and she was shot dead. We are unsure if she was an innocent victim or if she had been involved, so we are investigating all of her family, friends and acquaintances to determine if she had any habits of doing crime. What is your name?"

"I-it's Saya…" The other blonde said, face emptied of colour and lips quivering. "Is she really dead? Did she suffer?"

"She died immediately, so we don't think she suffered at all. Were you close with her, Miss Saya?"

"I was. We were deeply in love at some stage, but some disagreements led to her leaving without telling me. I've been trying to track her down for two years but now it's useless if she's dead." Saya covered her mouth and started to sob, shoulders shaking as her tears poured down her cheeks and dripped from her chin.

Krista glanced at Ymir who appeared very unimpressed.

_Firstly, we were never in love. I slept with her once and she stalked me for weeks after. I had to pretend to move about because of her. She even kidnapped me once during her stalking and chained me up in her basement. _

Krista's eyes widened.

_But she didn't do anything bad, she only had sex with me for three days straight until I managed to break out and escape through her window. At least I enjoyed those three days, and other than being exhausted and not being able to walk for a while after, it wasn't that bad._

Krista just shook her head and turned back to Saya who had gotten her sobbing under control and only sniffled a bit. She wasn't all that attractive, but she was pretty. Her hair was long and curly and her skin pale, but she was slightly taller than Krista and had a slightly larger chest.

"Did she ever show signs of being involved in any crimes?"

Saya shook her head violently, eyes suddenly enraged. "NO! Ymir was perfect! Not only was she sexy and gorgeous and perfect, but she was perfect in bed! She would never do any type of crime!" Saya growled loudly and stood up from the couch. She stomped over to her wall of framed photographs and pulled one of Ymir down, hugging it to her chest as she started to sob again. "How can she be gone? We were supposed to get married and have eight beautiful babies and grow old together."

Krista would have felt pity for her if she wasn't so crazy. She just shook her head and stood up from the couch. "Listen, I can see you need time to grieve. If you think there is anything you can tell me that can help, give me a call. I'm putting my card on the table." Krista did as she said and then started walking to the door. Saya showed no signs of hearing her and started lovingly kissing the picture.

Krista didn't even wait to see if she had acknowledged her request and just let herself out and hurried to her car. "Ymir, why?"

_I honestly had no idea she was such a fuckin' loon. She was being all sexy at this bar I was at and I offered to go to her place for some fun. She was not happy at all that I left the next morning before she woke up. Anyway, let me hurry over to the back and check for anything suspicious._

Ymir hurried to the back of the house and returned a moment later. Krista was already seated in the car, shaking her head in confusion and turned to the husky once she jumped into the car seat beside her.

"I don't understand your choice in women. I get the body type, but don't you have any intuition on their mental states?"

_Nope. All I see are their tits and I'm taken. Besides, weren't you an investigator investigating my death? What's with the detective act and my supposed involvement in a robbery?_

"I just figured I'd change it up and make it interesting." Krista started the car and quickly drove away from the house. "Let's just go home. I've had enough of your crazy exes for one day. We can continue another time."

Ymir just swished her tail and rested her head down on her front paws._ Fine by me. Not like I care,_ Ymir finally responded.

Krista smiled slightly, knowing that Ymir really did care otherwise they wouldn't be doing this. She still couldn't wrap her head around the people Ymir had associated herself with, so she cleared those thoughts from her mind and focused on the present.

"So Ymir, would you like to watch a movie when we get home?"

_No._

"Aww, I'll let you choose it."

Ymir's ears perked slightly and she released a puff of air from her nose. She turned her head to the side, away from Krista. _Fine._

Krista smiled brighter and drove them home. When they reached her house she and Ymir left the car and hurried inside. It was freezing and the wind was icy. There were angry clouds hanging overhead, threatening to pour at any moment.

Once inside Krista immediately started a fire at the fireplace, turned the TV on for some background music and went into the kitchen to make lunch for Ymir and herself. They had been out for some time and both were hungry.

"What would you like to eat?" Krista asked, glancing down at Ymir sitting at her feet.

_Whatever you're having, _the husky responded.

Krista nodded and went to work on making two chicken sandwiches. When they were done she carried two plates into the lounge and placed one on the seat of the couch before taking a seat beside it. Ymir jumped up on the couch and immediately started chewing on the sandwich, realizing she had been hungrier than she thought.

"So, of the list of ten we have managed to cross two names off; Alex and Saya. When do you want to investigate the rest?" Krista started, hating the silence and wanting to speak to Ymir.

_I don't care. I haven't agreed to stay, you know. I'm just using you for now 'cause you might help. I don't think this will even work anyway._

Krista frowned. "Then why did you accept my help?"

_What other choices do I have?_ Ymir growled in agitation and pushed the plate to Krista. She made a sneezing noise and then curled up, face hidden in her brown fur.

Krista sighed and took the empty plates back to the kitchen. She washed them and then returned to Ymir's side on the couch. Feeling sympathy for the brunette, Krista hesitantly reached out and ran a hand through her fur. Ymir stiffened at the touch.

"Let's watch a movie, you can choose it. Maybe it will help you feel better."

_What makes you think I'm feeling down in the first place?_

"I would too, if I was in your situation. I'm alone too, Ymir. I have no family. I do have my friends, but they have lives of their own. I know how you feel because I feel it too. So please, stop being so stubborn and open up to me." Krista pleaded, heart pounding.

Ymir lifted her head and looked deeply into Krista's eyes. She studied them and then flicked her eyes away and uttered a canine sigh. _What movies do you have?_

Krista squealed in delight, making Ymir roll her eyes, and hurried to her shelf of DVDs. She read each title out, Ymir barking her disagreement for each one until eventually she gave up and simply agreed to the next title Krista read. The blonde put the movie in and settled down on the couch to watch.

When the opening scene started Ymir lost all interest and returned to being curled up in a ball. Krista just sighed but focused on the movie, telling Ymir about what was happening as it progressed. At some point Krista went to fetch a small blanket for herself because the fire wasn't enough to keep them entirely warm, and she was freezing.

Ymir noticed and felt the desire to get under the blanket too, but it was too small and she would end up having to lie against the blonde. She was cold, but her stubbornness won out and she remained on the other end of the couch, shivering.

Inevitably Krista noticed and sighed, guessing that Ymir was probably too stubborn to ask for some of the blanket. To make it easier for the brunette she simply scooted up closer to her and draped half of it over her. She ended up half in the cold, but she didn't mind.

_What are you doing?_

"You're cold so I'm sharing my blanket."

_Idiot, it isn't big enough for both of us. Won't you just get cold in the end?_

"I don't mind, as long as you're warm."

Ymir glanced up at her with frustration, but sighed and curled up again, now warming up under the blanket. As the movie neared its end Ymir started feeling Krista's shivering beside her and rolled her eyes.

_You really are an idiot, you know that?_ Ymir stated and moved closer to Krista. She turned around and rested her head on Krista's lap, thus allowing them both to properly rest under the blanket without either exposed to the icy air.

Krista's heart jerked and she swallowed audibly. "Th-thanks." She said, ignoring the spike in her pulse. Ymir assumed her stuttering was due to the cold and paid it no mind, though Krista was quite warm from the inside out and wasn't really sure why she had stuttered in the first place.

They remained like that for a moment until Krista got up to put a different movie in. Ymir didn't care what movie it was and just curled up against Krista to sleep. She got over her initial discomfort of being so close to the blonde, and started to enjoy the warmth of her small body.

As they sat together in comfortable silence, watching movies, the afternoon passed and soon night fell.

XxX

Just after midnight Krista was woken by the familiar sound of a hiss and then the brush of hot air. It was so hot that she instantly started to sweat, because for some reason the heat was constant and it as only getting hotter. At first Krista thought that Ymir was beside her and had just turned, but the heat was getting worse and her skin felt flushed.

Drudging her consciousness up, Krista managed to ignore the scolding heat and forced her eyelids open, only to look straight up into burning brown eyes.

Instantly she realized that she had fallen asleep on the couch and she was now on her back, still on the couch. Ymir was hovering over her, dangerously close to her face. Her eyelids were lidded and the entire length of her body was covering Krista's. Like always, she was naked, and Krista realized that it was her body that was hot and the heat was scorching her. The brunette's face was pink, either from the heat or something else. Her chest was heaving, evidence by the hurried movement of her chest that was pressed up against Krista's.

"Ymir?" Krista squeaked out. How the hell had they ended up in that position and why was Ymir on top of her like that, looking at her the way she was?

"Kris… ta…" Ymir uttered, her voice strained and thick. Sweat dripped off of her forehead, nose and chin and she looked incredibly flushed.

Krista realized that her body was trembling and ignored her initial confusion and fear in favour of worry. "Ymir, what's wrong? You feel incredibly hot." She managed to lift an arm and touched her palm to Ymir's cheek. For some reason the touch made Ymir flinch but groan.

"Don't… touch…" She sounded breathless too, like she was struggling to talk.

Krista was really starting to worry now. "Come on Ymir, I think you need to go to the hospital. You have an extremely high fever. How do you feel?"

"Hot." Ymir hissed, eyes still boring into Krista's. It was such a burning, passionate gaze that it made Krista shiver. "So hot… I can't…" Her jaw clenched and the muscles in her neck bulged with the force.

For some strange reason Krista found it attractive and suddenly her body felt hot too. Not just from Ymir's naked body on top of hers, but from the inside too. She started feeling weird and her heart beat faster. What was happening to her? She also couldn't look way from Ymir's eyes. She wanted to look away and get out from under her, but her body refused to move.

"Can't…" Ymir said again, a pained expression contorting her face. She leaned down, closing the already small space between their faces. Krista wanted to panic and turn her face away, but she couldn't. Her body felt too heavy to move and she could only just lay there. Only a second passed and then their lips were touching.

At the first touch a painful spark shot out from where Ymir's lips touched hers and travelled along her veins to every inch of her body and she could suddenly move again, but she didn't. It felt as if Ymir couldn't control her body either, and it was moving on its own. The brunette whimpered and shut her eyes tight. Her body was burning and it was painful, but it felt so good at the same time.

Krista simply shut her eyes as Ymir started kissing her and didn't care to wonder why she was enjoying it or why it was making her _so hot_. She just wrapped her arms around Ymir and ran her hands along the smooth skin on her back. The skin was almost too hot to touch, and slick with sweat.

Ymir growled, the sound inhuman and hungry, and stopped her assault on Krista's lips to move and kiss along her throat. Krista cried out and exposed as much of her neck as possible. Every touch of Ymir's lips along her skin burnt and tingled, but Krista felt too numbed with the sensation to realize that this was taking a turn she had never expected.

"Ymir…" Krista moaned, unable to control it. This seemed to snap the brunette out of whatever trance she had been in and she quickly leaned back, panting and sweating even more. "Ymir?"

"Oh God…" Ymir moved back until she fell off of the couch. She stood and ran for the bathroom. Krista ran right after her, legs still heavy and shaking, but she managed to race after the brunette and found her shivering in the corner of the shower, water pouring out and drenching her sweat slicked skin.

"Ymir?" Krista reached out to touch her and felt the water. It was icy cold and she quickly wrenched her hand back.

Ymir groaned in pain and covered her head with her arms. She looked to be panting still but the flush had left her skin. "My body is so fucking hot it feels like I'm on fire." Ymir finally muttered, voice stronger than before.

Krista swallowed and reached for a towel. "You can't stay in that freezing water, you'll get sick."

"I don't fucking care. Even the water isn't helping much but it's taken the edge off."

"Please? I'll get some ice and a cold cloth and wipe you down with it until the fever goes down."

"If it goes down." Ymir grumbled and looked at Krista. The blonde was crouching down beside her just outside of the shower. She glanced up at the shower head and at the water cascading down on her. It was true that she would probably end up sick, but she felt so damn hot. As Ymir took a moment to deliberate she felt her temperature slightly decrease and slowly moved out of the corner. She didn't even care that Krista was the one wrapping the towel around her body and simply let the blonde pull her over into her bedroom.

Krista reached for a handy pair of boxers but Ymir groaned from where she lay curled up on the bed. "No clothes, it's too hot. Please open the window. Get ice. It's too fucking hot." The blonde dropped her hand and dashed out of the room to get the required items. She returned a moment later with some ice in a cloth and hurried to open the window.

"Is this the first time you've developed a fever like this? Does it happen after you turn?" The blonde asked after sitting down on the bed next to Ymir and running the cold cloth over her shoulder.

Ymir groaned in appreciation. "No, it… this happens… every time, but never as bad as this."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Wasn't important." Ymir turned onto her stomach and let Krista run the cold cloth down the slope of her back. "Jesus, I feel so hot."

Krista paid no attention to the fact that Ymir was naked and bared right before her and simply focused on helping her in this tense situation. "Ymir, it is important to me. If you get any strange symptoms you need to tell me. Not just for our search of the person that cursed you, but also so that I can help with whatever it is. I worry about you."

Ymir just scoffed but grimaced when a sudden wave of heat passed over her body. "Jesus, fuck." Her body tensed for a second, muscles bulging and straining, and then she relaxed back against the bed and sighed in relief. "Sorry, I-I'll say something next time." Another heat wave hit and Ymir tensed. The brunette was really gratefully for the blonde's help, enough to stop being difficult. She felt incredibly awful and doubted she would have been able to be so calm about it if Krista wasn't there to help her and actually care.

So yeah, Ymir was slowly starting to believe that Krista wasn't in it for some personal gain. She was still suspicious and not willing to just fully believe in the blonde yet, though.

"Why is this happening?" Krista asked herself softly, watching Ymir tense up again and cry out in pain. Her heart felt heavy at having to sit there and watch Ymir suffer. She tried her best to cool the brunette down with the cold cloth but the ice had already melted and it didn't seem to help much anyway.

"I'll be right back." Krista said and attempted to get off of the bed, but a burning, large hand grabbed hers and pulled her back down.

"No, don't leave. Just stay, please." Ymir was panting, finding it difficult to breathe again. She would never admit it, but she was honestly fearing for her life now. She had never really taken the whole curse thing seriously, but now she realized how serious it was. If someone had succeeded in getting her to turn into a dog then that person was capable of doing any number of other things. It scared Ymir, and she didn't want to be alone anymore.

Krista's heart swelled and she nodded. "Of course, I'll stay. I'm not going anywhere, Ymir." The blonde watched in surprise as Ymir wrapped her arms around her waist and curled her body against her, crying out softly when a wave washed over her body. All Krista could to was soothing rub her back and run a hand through her damp hair.

It stayed like that for a long while, possibly an hour, until Ymir fell asleep, breathing calmly and deeply. She still had her arms around Krista's waist but they had slackened. Sometime during the hour Ymir had rested her head in her lap.

Krista tentatively ran her hand along Ymir's side and sighed in utter relief. Her skin had decreased in temperature, rapidly, and now she felt only slightly warmer than usual body temperature. Krista was extra grateful for the cold weather, because Ymir probably would have been in serious trouble if it had been hot in the room on top of her intense body temperature.

Krista rested down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. She was too exhausted to move their position and simply left Ymir where she was, head now resting on her stomach. It felt oddly nice.

The blonde's cheeks grew warm when their kiss flashed in her mind. Because of the hour of panic she hadn't even had the time to think about what had happened.

Ymir had kissed her, and it had felt amazing. Krista wasn't that dense not to have known that she had been intensely turned on by Ymir, though she wasn't sure if it had happened naturally or if some other force had been at play. It certainly had felt like something had just taken them over, intensifying their feelings that probably weren't even there to begin with.

Why had Ymir done it though? Krista wished she could wake Ymir to ask her, but the poor brunette had finally fallen asleep after going through a full hour of hell. She would have to wait for the morning to get her answers.

Krista closed her eyes, leaving the blanket because Ymir was still warm enough to keep the chilly cold away, and drifted off into a restless sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The next morning was just as cold and gloomy as the previous. Krista had woken first and left Ymir to sleep soundly, on her bed and once more as a husky. The blonde took a morning shower, washing the remains of Ymir's and her sweat away from last night. She tried her best not to think about what had transpired, but it was difficult and she ended up thinking about it all through the morning.

After breakfast Ymir had yet to awaken, so Krista took a seat in the lounge and reached for the telephone on the side table. Her mind kept racing with thoughts and questions, all of it concerning last night and the kiss she and Ymir had shared. It felt almost surreal, but it felt too real to have been a dream. Krista was unsure of exactly how she should handle the situation, hence why she was currently dialling a familiar number. Maybe talking to someone about it would make her feel better.

After a few seconds and a couple of rings the line picked up and a cheerful voice filtered through. "Krista!"

"Morning Petra, do you have time to talk?"

On her end, Petra's smile faltered as she heard the soft uncertainty and worry in Krista's voice. "Of course. I was just cleaning the house but I can skip an hour or two. What's wrong?"

Krista smiled. Of course Petra would immediately pick up on her down mood. "Well, I can't tell you the exact details, so I'll need you to be very open right now and to not ask any questions at all. Okay?"

Petra's eyebrow shot up. "This is about that sexy brunette, isn't it?" When there was only silence as a response, Petra sighed. "Okay, sorry. Forget I asked that. You can talk and I'll listen without trying to get any answers out of you."

"Thank you." Krista took a deep breath, preparing herself. "Okay, so there's this girl who is in an impossible situation. She literally stumbled upon it by chance and doesn't have the heart to get out of it. Say this situation happens to involve another person…" Krista swallowed. "And uh… say that person is going through some physical changes, and the girl who is helping this person ended up being in a really embarrassing situation with this person."

"Okay, and what is this situation?"

"Say this person and the girl ended up kissing, but they both couldn't control themselves at all, almost supernaturally so. What would you do if you were the girl?"

Petra elicited a puff of air in response. She scrunched her eyebrows together in thought, itching to beg Krista for the actual story but respecting her cousin enough not to. "Well, if I was into that person and we ended up kissing, I would probably let it go further or I would stop and ask what this person is trying to do, exactly."

"But what if you suddenly can't pull away? What if you feel completely trapped, even though you can move? What if you realize that you really like it but you don't know why?"

"Hmmm…" Petra bit her lip in contemplation. "I think it would be smart to stop it and talk about it before anything goes further."

Krista sighed impatiently. "Yes, but what if you really can't stop it at all?"

"Then I have no idea… go with it until someone stops?"

"And then if the person does stop before going further, what would you say the next day?"

"I would probably question that person's feelings for me and demand an honest answer as to why the person kissed me. Look, cuz, I don't know what you got yourself into but I advise that you talk everything out instead of sitting quietly like you do, being all confused and unsure."

Krista covered her face with her hand, face blushing fiercely. "I never said this involved me…"

"I know, but just in case,"

"Okay, thanks Petra. I think I know what to do now." Krista realized her slip and gasped softly. "I mean, uh, what to do if something like this ever happens…"

Petra just laughed. "Yeah, whatever you say. Now I'm going to finish with my cleaning before Levi gets home. Let me know if you've decided that you can tell me anything."

Krista smiled softly and bid Petra goodbye and then she hung up and stared up at the ceiling with a sigh. Talk to Ymir about it, huh? It would be extremely embarrassing, but Krista understood that it had to be done. If anything, she needed to find out if Ymir had been controlled in some way or if she had been driven by actual feelings.

Thinking that the snarky brunette could possibly feel anything for her made Krista roll her eyes, but she couldn't assume it was completely wrong until Ymir denied it.

With a nervous flutter of her stomach, Krista left the lounge and headed for her bedroom. It was now early afternoon and Ymir hadn't left Krista's room yet. Was she still sleeping or was she hiding?

"Ymir?" Krista called out softly and pushed the door open. Ymir lay on her side in the centre of the bed, her back facing Krista. "Are you awake?"

_Go away._

"I can't, I need to talk to you."

_I don't feel in the mood for company right now._ Ymir's thoughts sounded frustrated and annoyed.

Krista sighed and went over to the bed, sat down at the edge and nervously fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

"Ymir, can we please just talk?"

_I said go away. Are _you_ deaf as well as stupid? I don't want company right now._

Krista swallowed her hurt and instead focused on getting her words out before Ymir forced her from the room. "A-about last night… uh… you… k-kissed me… and… did you…?" She couldn't finish her question because her cheeks felt too hot and her heart was pounding. It was too embarrassing. Krista waited patiently for a response, hoping Ymir would get the gist of what she was trying to ask. Apparently she didn't, or she pretended not to, because she didn't respond at all. Krista sighed and decided to just leave it. She obviously wasn't going to get a response and this was more embarrassing than she could handle. The blonde stood up from the bed with a sad sigh and made her way over to the door, only to freeze in the doorway.

_I don't know why I did that, Krista. I woke up feeling hot and I barely remember anything about last night. I don't remember kissing you. I only remember waking up feeling hot, going to sleep and then waking up this morning. What happened, exactly?_

Ymir didn't sound as agitated as earlier, and instead she responded softly, almost hesitantly.

Krista gripped the doorframe and swallowed hard. She could feel Ymir's eyes on her back, but she didn't turn. If Ymir didn't remember at all, what good would bringing it up do? She suffered a lot last night and Krista was relieved that she didn't remember that part. What she did feel in general was crushing disappointment. She realized she felt disappointed that Ymir didn't remember the kiss, because it made Krista feel as inconsequential as ever.

It had been selfish to harbour a slight hope that Ymir had been interested at all, making Krista feel slightly important; like she was capable of capturing someone's attention such as Ymir. Yes, the brunette was mean, sarcastic and mostly unapproachable, but she was gorgeous and one hell of a catch. Krista felt stupid for ever thinking that someone like Ymir would have been interested in someone as lame and weak as her.

"Nothing major happened, Ymir. You just had a slight fever and I had to get you to bed. Nothing important happened at all." Krista responded softly, almost brokenly.

_Oh, okay. Feeew. I was worried that I had molested you or something. _Ymir sounded bored and not at all interested.

Yeah, why would Ymir ever go for someone like Krista anyway? She might have been her type physically, but emotionally she probably put the brunette off.

Krista frowned deeply and left the room, promising herself to do her damn hardest to help Ymir or to find someone that could help her, so that she could go back to normal and return to her life.

Ymir watched as Krista stiffly left the room and rolled her eyes, but her heart slightly sank and she uttered a sigh. _You really are an idiot, Krista…_

XxX

Krista had managed to accept the situation as it was and cheered herself up long before Ymir finally left her room to demand food. The blonde had cheerfully complied and went to work on making dinner for her and Ymir. She chatted animatedly as she cooked, telling Ymir about her classmates at university. Ymir would just grunt in response but was too focused on her hunger to care.

Now it was the next day and a Monday morning. Krista attended her usual daily duties, though a bit tiredly because she had taken to waking up at midnight to spend time with Ymir when she was in human form, mainly to crack plans on how to get her back to being normally human. She came home with a bunch of new assignments and a new test to study for, so she spent most of her attention on that.

Even though Ymir had repeatedly said that she was not planning on staying, she did, and Krista didn't question it. They fell into an easy routine over the next month.

Krista would make food for Ymir, for breakfast and lunch, and made sure it was easily accessible to Ymir while she was away. When she returned after her late afternoon class she would make a quick dinner, speak quickly with Ymir and then work on her assignments and study. The weekends were much the same, though Ymir managed to argue enough that Krista spared a little time to relax on Saturdays and Sundays instead of working so hard on her studies. That was the time Krista used to slowly chip away at Ymir's cold exterior. The brunette would never admit it, but she came to enjoy her quiet company with Krista.

During the month Krista wasn't able to help Ymir with the other names on the list, though she had offered to in the beginning. Ymir had just shrugged it off and claimed that it wasn't important, so Krista felt less guilt at choosing to study instead.

Ymir gradually got used to her dog body, though she did become increasingly agitated at the whole situation. She missed being human all the time and being able to do normal things like walk on two legs. Her 3 hours after midnight were not enough, and she couldn't go out anywhere. She didn't want to leave the house as a dog, but she wasn't able to do it as a human because of the late time.

On the last Friday of school Krista returned home exhausted and ready for bed. She had completed a difficult test she had studied tirelessly for during the month, and it was finally winter break. She now had three weeks to relax and do as she pleased.

When Krista opened her front door and heard a crash coming from her room, she remembered that she had Ymir on her hands and probably wouldn't relax at all.

"Ymir?" Krista called out and yawned. She dropped her bag on the kitchen table and then hurried into her room. There she found Ymir lying on her back right beside her bed. "Uh…"

_Don't you dare say a word,_ Ymir warned.

"Did you fall off of the bed?" Krista questioned, hiding a smile behind her hand.

_You saw nothing._ Ymir glared hotly at her and glided out of the room, not sparing a glance behind her. Krista just giggled and followed her to the lounge.

"So I'm finally free and it's winter break. When would you like to continue our investigation of your possible curser?"

Ymir shrugged. _Dunno, whenever. Doesn't matter much to me._

"You say that, but I can tell that you've been getting more frustrated lately. You must miss being a normal human."

_Yeah, yeah, whatever. We can do it whenever you want._ Ymir said and rested on the couch, head lying on her front paws.

"What will you do once we find out who is behind this?" Krista questioned softly.

_Rip their fucking face off and make them remove this damn curse._

"And then once the curse is lifted?"

_Go back to my life, I guess. Why are you so interested?_ Ymir cast a suspicious stare over to Krista and the blonde shifted nervously.

"No reason! I was just curious." She giggled nervously and turned the TV on to hopefully distract the brunette. It didn't work, but Ymir didn't push on the subject and just went back to napping.

Krista sighed softly to herself and allowed her shoulders to slump. Though she had been very busy over the past month, she had grown closer to Ymir. She couldn't imagine coming home to an empty house, devoid of a certain naughty husky. She also couldn't imagine not waking at midnight to talk with Ymir and suffer the brunette's intense personality and teases. It was a saddening thought to know that Ymir would leave, but it was one Krista knew from the beginning. Why was she so sad anyway? Was it because she just didn't want to be alone anymore? Having Ymir there was a handful because of the brunette's difficult personality and stubbornness, but she was endearing when Krista found those odd moments when she caught her off guard for once. Krista had even made Ymir blush at one instance, and it had made her heart swell.

It wasn't only that, though, that made Krista miserable at the thought of Ymir leaving. Over the long month together she had grown more and more attracted to her, ever since that strange night when Ymir had kissed her. It was like she couldn't even control it.

Sometimes she would wake up at night, sweaty and hot, and had to take a shower to calm down. During the day the physical attraction was non-existent because at that time Ymir was always in dog form, but whenever she was human again, Krista would sweat. The closer they were physically the warmer Krista would feel inside. It startled Krista more than anything.

But she had chalked it up to her just having weird dreams at night because of the weird situation they were in, and her reaction to Ymir being the way it was because she was fond of her in a friendly way. Of course, there was a nagging thought at the back of her mind that Krista knew none of her feelings were innocent, and were anything but.

Ymir didn't remember the kiss at all, even though Krista had hinted at it a few times just to see if perhaps she had remembered at all, but Ymir never caught on.

_Hey, squirt, why are you crying?_

Krista gasped lightly and raised a hand to her face. Sure enough, the tips of her fingers were wet with tears when she touched her skin. "Nothing…" She responded and covered her face with her hands, trying not to sob because she suddenly felt greatly saddened.

A minute of silence passed, and then Krista stiffened when she felt a warm finger caress her cheek, wiping a tear away. She was too scared to turn her head, but eventually she did and looked into annoyed blue eyes. Had she imagined that, or for a moment had Ymir turned?

_Whatever, if you say so. Just don't go and get my fur wet._ Ymir responded with an eye roll, but Krista saw the barely masked concern behind her eyes.

The sight immediately warmed her inside and Krista's tears stopped, replaced by a smile.

"So, what do you say to interrogating ex number three tomorrow?" Krista asked cheerfully, all traces of her sudden mood swing gone.

If Ymir had been able to then she would have flashed a slight smile. _Tomorrow?_ She offered, unsure.

Krista nodded. "Tomorrow it is then."

XxX

The next day both Ymir and Krista were up a bit late and hurried to get ready to leave. They were hoping – or Krista was since Ymir played it off like she didn't care – that they could get through at least half of the names. The longer it took them to find the person that did this to Ymir, the longer it would take to return her to normal.

Ymir acted like she didn't care, but Krista did. The blonde could now clearly see through Ymir's cool façade and saw how troubled she really was about the situation. But why did she seem to put the least amount of effort into figuring this out? If it wasn't for Krista then Ymir probably wouldn't have tried at all.

"So," Krista spoke up. They were already driving through town towards the third ex, by Ymir's directions. The little blonde had been hesitant to start conversation, since Ymir had woken up in a foul mood, but she couldn't take the silence any longer. "How did you sleep?"

_Fine._

Krista glanced over at the husky. She looked unusually irritated. "Did you have any dreams?"

Ymir looked up suddenly with wide eyes and appeared almost startled. _Why, did you hear any of my thoughts while I was asleep?_ She asked hurriedly.

Krista furrowed her brow and shook her head. "No, why would you think I did?"

_Oh, no reason. And no, didn't dream… not at all._

"Okay… so, uh, where did you meet ex number 3?"

Ymir sighed. _I met Jade at a park. She was jogging by when she caught my interest and I ended up visiting that park every day for a week to watch her. Eventually she caught on and apparently she was quite interested in me so she gave me her number before she even told me her name._

"Did you have feelings for her?" Krista asked softly. It felt strangely uncomfortable to ask, because Krista was secretly fearing the answer and she didn't quite understand why.

_Nah, she was just really pretty. And great in bed. I just didn't know that she apparently fell in love at first sight, or some bullshit like that._

"What happened?"

Ymir rolled onto her back on the car seat and stared up at the ceiling. She wasn't quite small enough to do that without falling off of the seat, so she had to curl her body on top of it to fit. Krista found it adorable but wisely chose not to comment on that fact.

_Well, I would meet up with her at the park every day and then we would go out for a coffee or something. After a week of doing this I asked her out to dinner and then into my house after. She enthusiastically accepted and we ended up sleeping together. _Ymir sighed. _It was stupid of me to let her into my house, because I never do that. She seemed so guarded though, I was actually surprised she would have had sex with me after only two weeks of meeting. Unfortunately my initial suspicion was correct._

_I only have conquests and one night stands. After the sex is done I lose any and all interest I had, no matter who the person is or how beautiful she is. Jade didn't like it and persistently came over to my house. I had to pretend that I moved again. She wasn't all that crazy, she was just stupidly love struck and driven mad because of it. _

"After just two weeks?"

_I have this gift of rocking girls' worlds. _

Krista giggled. "I can only imagine what you could accomplish if you actually fell in love and not in lust."

They fell into awkward silence, Ymir not up to responding and Krista just leaving the conversation there. She focused instead on the road and obeyed the instructions quietly given by Ymir as they drove. Eventually they made it to a block of flats and together they headed up to the second floor.

_It's door 56, from what I can remember._

"You know, for only wanting these girls' bodies I'm surprised you can remember where all of them live."

Ymir shrugged. _I need to know everything about my conquests before I charm them. I can't go in blind._

"That sounds a bit creepy. Are you sure you aren't a stalker too?"

_Har har, watch it or I'll bite your ankle. _

Krista just giggled and rang the bell. She shifted nervously and adjusted the brown coat draped over her body.

The door opened and a pretty blonde about as tall as Krista appeared and gave her a questioning look.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Uh, yes. My name is Krista and I need to ask you a few questions about Ymir, whom I'm assuming was once a girlfriend of yours?"

Jade shifted her eyes away from Krista's and noticed the husky laying at her feet. She smiled and crouched down to pet her, and Ymir decided to act like an excited dog and sat up with her tail wagging.

"Can I ask how you know this?" She didn't sound unpleasant but she did sound very concerned.

"Could we speak inside? This is rather important, and confidential."

Jade stood back up and nodded. "Yeah, sure. Come in." She ushered them inside.

Krista felt no need to pardon Ymir's presence because Jade didn't seem to mind at all, and followed the other blonde into her living room where they sat down.

"You said this is about Ymir?"

XxX

A few hours later Krista and Ymir returned home. The blonde was exhausted and collapsed on top of her couch the moment she was close enough.

They had ruled Jade out, since she explained how she had been stupid with how she had handled the situation with Ymir and told Krista that she hoped she found the information she was looking for. They had searched her house and the ground around the area but everything appeared normal.

After ex number 3 had been crossed off they went on to number 4 and 5 before calling it a day and stopping it there.

Ex number 4 was the strangest woman Krista had encountered of Ymir's past lovers so far. She was almost as tall as Ymir and apparently deathly into sports. Ymir had said that she was curious about what being the submissive one felt like and ended up stuck in a strange situation with the woman; her name was Nicole. After trying it Ymir concluded that she much preferred being the dominant one, but Nicole wouldn't have any of it. She ended up arguing with Ymir and it turned violent. The brunette guessed that it was more about losing something of her possession rather than someone she cared about.

Luckily Ymir had been extra fortunate and didn't suffer anything more than a few bruises. Nicole ended up with broken ribs and a swollen face.

Krista hadn't liked that encounter at all. Nicole was intimidating and just mean. Even though Ymir had the exact same personality, Krista could only take it when it was from her, not from someone else. Every minute sitting uncomfortably in that house had been torture. They cleared her name, though, because Nicole seemed like she would have done something like that but she honestly didn't care about Ymir anymore, and no longer had any reason to curse her.

They went directly to ex number 5 who ended up not being there. Her sister had moved in to her house and informed them that she had moved out of the country shortly after her falling out with Ymir. The sister told them that after Ymir left her, Cindy – the ex – had fallen into severe depression. She had taken to harassing Ymir over the phone and threatening her with suicide if Ymir didn't take her back. This had forced Ymir to get a new number. Since she was out of the country there was no way she could be the one who had cursed Ymir, since it seemed pointless that she would do that only to never see the result. It also helped that the sister told them that Cindy had moved to get help for herself and had done just that. She was now, apparently, a happy person soon to be married.

With three more off of the list, and half officially ruled out, Krista was hoping they were getting close to the culprit. She also noted that the people they had interrogated so far were from quite a few years ago in Ymir's past. The further down the list they travelled, the more recent the exes became. Was ex number 10 the most recent, or was Krista looking too closely into things?

Ymir watched Krista's focused expression and bit back an internal chuckle. Krista was doing her concentration tick again, with her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth.

_You're doing the tongue thing again._ Ymir finally remarked and jumped up on the couch beside Krista.

"Again?" Krista's concentration fell and she blushed. "Sorry…"

_Why are you apologising? It's just something you do. Besides… _Ymir shrugged her dog shoulders and looked off to the side. _It's cute._

Krista's eyes widened and her blush deepened. "You're a big softie, aren't you?"

_Shut up_.

Krista bit her lip so as not to giggle and groaned as she forced herself to stand. "What would you like for dinner?" She asked.

_You know, you ask me that every day but I always give you the same answer._

"Right, I'll just give you what I'm having." Krista smiled and disappeared into the kitchen.

Neither of them had really realized how busy the day had been, because it was quite late already and the sun had set. It was getting increasingly dark outside.

Ymir went into the kitchen and rested down by the door to watch the tiny blonde work. Her eyes followed Krista with every move she made.

"Say, Ymir…" Krista asked suddenly.

_Mm?_

"Why don't you seem very enthusiastic to find out who did this to you?"

Ymir sighed through her nose. _Dunno._

"But don't you want this nightmare to end?"

_Sure._

Krista glanced over at her and saw that Ymir was pretending to nap, so she took that as the conversation ending and focused back on the food. Why did she seem so uninterested? In the beginning she seemed like she had been eager to figure this out, but over the past month that had just decreased.

Krista made sure to file that away for some time later when she was sure Ymir would answer her honestly. For now she just finished the food and carried their plates into the lounge.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Hey guys! So, I'm alive and well. I apologise for the delay in chapter 10, I really do. But my story 'A Halo Above the Horns' was removed by the site and my account was then locked, so I couldn't submit anything until now. It was removed for the explicit content. Sigh. I'm scared of posting more futa stories now, 'cause I don't want to have my account terminated or something. Anyway, here is the new chapter. Hopefully the extra wait was worth it.

* * *

Chapter 10

Later that night Krista lay restlessly in bed. It was 11 p.m. and she couldn't fall asleep. Her mind kept running and thoughts of Ymir and her situation kept circling in her mind.

How could something like this have been possible? How had it been done? Krista imagined what the ritual could have looked like, or what the ex-lover's intentions could have been.

She sighed. Pondering about this wasn't going to solve anything, and evidently it was only making her lose sleep. But she really couldn't sleep anymore and no longer felt tired. Now wide awake, Krista climbed out of her bed and padded softly into the living room.

Ymir was still in dog form, resting silently on the couch under a blanket. She didn't move at all in her sleep and only breathed quietly. She looked so calm and peaceful, even though she was a husky and not in her human form.

Krista retrieved her school bag from the closet and carried it over to her desk in the corner of the lounge. She placed it on top of the desk, pulled her laptop out and started it up, and then took a seat. Since she couldn't sleep she figured she would do some writing.

Once her laptop was on she pulled her notebooks out of her bag and opened a document up on her laptop. She had written down a lot of notes on Ymir over the month, when she wasn't studying or working on assignments, and decided that she would finally type all of it up. She stretched her arms above her head, took a breath and then poised her fingers just above the keyboard.

She started typing out all of her observations. Of how Ymir would get hot flushes every night, though the intensity varied. Her appetite remained large but constant, and she constantly craved meat. She also noted down about each interrogation she had done so far. Krista typed out who the exes were, what transpired between them and Ymir and then the reason of why they were cleared of suspicion.

From behind her Ymir watched. Midnight had already passed and Ymir was now human, though naked. The constant pattering of fingers pressing on buttons had woken Ymir, and when she figured out that it was Krista typing on her laptop, she simply sat up and watched her. After a while, though, she grew tired of watching and stood up, blanket pooling at her feet.

Naked and all, Ymir snuck quietly over to Krista and paused inches behind her. She peered over her shoulder and raised her eyebrow when she read a few lines of text on the screen. So Krista was writing about all of this. The brunette grinned naughtily to herself and then leaned down quietly until her lips were almost brushing against Krista's ear.

"Whatcha doin'?" She asked sexily. Krista fell right out of the chair in fright, screaming bloody murder as she did so. "Jesus, Krista. Don't scream so loud." Ymir shook her head and glared down at the crumbled blonde on the floor.

"Th-then d-don't scare me like th-that!" Krista squeaked in reply.

Ymir snorted. "You woke me with your damn super typing so I decided to get some revenge." She offered her hand and waited for Krista to take it.

Krista did, but covered her eyes with her free hand and blushed. "You're naked." She pointed out.

Ymir laughed loudly and pulled Krista against her chest the moment she had risen to her feet. "Oh please I'm naked every night. You have to be used to it by now." She husked softly against Krista's ear.

"I-I'm not!" Krista refused to open her eyes and pushed against Ymir's chest to hopefully escape the brunette's arms. That wasn't a very good idea though, since she ended up giving up in shoving Ymir away and just pressed her hands against her chest. Against her burning hot and now sweaty skin.

"Krista…" Ymir whispered in a groan. It sounded strangled and pained.

Krista's eyes immediately shot open and she gasped. Ymir had leaned forward and their faces were now mere inches apart. "Y-Ymir?" This was just like that night when she first discovered Ymir's hot flushes, the night they had kissed.

Ymir had leaned forward, but she was frozen. She managed to crack an amused grin, like she wasn't feeling like she was on fire, and slowly sunk down to her knees. Krista didn't waste any time and quickly retrieved a cloth and ice from the kitchen. When she returned she found Ymir kneeling on the floor and pulled her over to the couch where she went to work on wiping her searing skin down with the cold cloth.

"How bad is it?" Krista asked softly, hurting that she had to watch Ymir suffer.

"Not as bad as the last ones. I think they're getting less severe." Ymir replied and grimaced when a slightly more intense wave of heat passed through her body, just beneath her skin.

"Thank you for being honest." Krista said with a smile and ran the cloth over Ymir's jaw.

"I should… get clothes… on." Ymir made to get up but was stopped by Krista pulling her back down.

"No, it's okay. Clothes will make it worse right now. Are you hungry? Maybe you should take a cold shower and eat something. That normally makes it better."

Ymir just nodded and dazedly wobbled out of the room to take a cold shower. While she was away Krista fixed the usual of two large steaks for Ymir and when they were done she went into her bathroom to see if Ymir was alright.

"Ymir?" Krista called out, hand covering her eyes.

From the shower Ymir looked up and watched Krista through the stream of clear, cold water cascading down her face. She felt a hell of a lot better, though she noted with a frown that looking at the blonde ignited the fire again and her temperature rose, only slightly.

"I'm fine, Krista. Can you get some clothes for me?" Ymir asked and shut the water off. She grabbed a towel from the towel rack and then dried her skin.

"Here…" Krista walked in blindly with her eyes covered and offered the clothes. Once they were taken she quickly left and returned to the kitchen, sat down at the table and waited for the brunette to return.

Ymir just chuckled at Krista's cuteness and hurriedly pulled the boxers and t-shirt on. Her stomach was aching and growling loudly, and she was incredibly hungry. It always happened that she would have these intense heat waves and then feel intensely hungry after.

Now dressed and feeling dramatically cooler, Ymir joined Krista at the table and nearly inhaled the food in her haste to fill her stomach.

"Do you feel better now?" Krista asked with concern, watching Ymir wolf her food down with a slight smile.

"What are you, my mother? Jesus Krista, you worry too much. It's not that bad, really. By the way," Ymir swallowed the last of the food and shoved the plate away from her. "Why do you have men's boxers? I must have worn 10 different pairs already."

Krista took the plate to the sink and washed it off. "Oh, they're Reiner's boxers. I hope you don't mind." Krista glanced over and noticed Ymir frowning.

"Reiner, huh…" Ymir grumbled softly and stood up from the table. "Anyway, what were you typing earlier?" She asked.

"Please don't be mad, but I've been keeping track of your condition since the first night I believed you. I was just typing out all of the notes I had made on paper."

"So you wrote about everything that's happening to me?" Krista nodded. "Even us asking my past lovers if they did it?" Krista nodded again and bit her lip nervously. Would Ymir be upset? "Huh, okay." Ymir just shrugged her shoulders and disappeared into the lounge, Krista following her.

The brunette plopped down on the couch and turned the TV on.

"You aren't mad?" Krista asked tentatively.

"Mad? Why would I be?" Ymir responded with boredom and flipped through the channels. "Goddamnit, there's nothing interesting on." She turned the TV off and tossed the remote to the side. "There's never interesting things to do when I'm finally human again."

Krista sat down beside her and hesitantly touched her hand. "I'll help you with this, Ymir. I'll get you back to normal."

Ymir trailed her eyes from Krista's hand touching her own to the blonde's optimistic, kind blue eyes. She frowned. "You don't know that you can. Don't make stupid promises like that."

"But I do. I don't know how, but I know that I will help you. I will do everything in my power to fix you."

Ymir wrenched her hand away and barked a humourless laugh. "It might not even be a curse. How the hell can you be so certain? I don't even deserve…" Ymir stopped and looked away, lips pressed together firmly.

"Ymir? You don't deserve what?" Krista scooted closer to her only to have Ymir stand up and put distance between them.

"None of your fucking business!" Ymir yelled. "I don't even know you. Why the hell are you so bent on helping me? Tell me!"

Krista watched Ymir yell and pace with worry. Her lip began to quiver but she stood, hands clasped together. "Ymir…"

"No! Don't fucking 'Ymir' me. If it wasn't for you I… I…" Ymir growled loudly and balled her fists tightly. Suddenly two small arms wrapped around her waist and her heart felt constricted.

"It's okay Ymir, you can be angry. I know you aren't angry at me. You can shout at me as much as you want. You can even… even h-hit me if you need to!" Krista had her cheek pressed to the centre of Ymir's back and felt her laboured breathing and quickening pulse.

"Hit you?" Ymir turned around. "Do I look the type to ever raise my hand to someone like you?" She looked shocked and wounded, like just the thought pained her.

"No, but I'm letting you know that I mean it when I say I'll help you."

Ymir suddenly grabbed Krista's face and stared intensely into her eyes. "But hit you?"

Krista could only stare. Her heart was pounding in time with her heavy breathing and Krista gently wrapped her hands around Ymir's wrists. "Ymir?"

Ymir leaned down, her face impossible to read, and only stopped when their lips were almost touching. "I could never hit you." She whispered, hot breath caressing Krista's lips and making her hold back a whimper. "And once I get rid of this curse, you'll be rid of me for good." The brunette gently released Krista's face and returned to the couch, though she lay down and pulled the blanket over her.

Krista shivered and released a shaky breath. "I'm sorry for suggesting that…" She swallowed and realized that her mouth was dry. Was Ymir serious? Did she really mean it when she said she would be gone as soon as the curse was lifted? Krista sighed. "Goodnight, Ymir." She said softly and left the brunette in the lounge. She went into her room, not hearing Ymir quietly mutter goodnight in return, and climbed into bed.

Even though her mind was still numb and excited, she found that she could fall asleep.

XxX

Over the next few days neither spoke of the argument they had or of the conversation that followed. They just continued to act like it had never happened. It carried on like this for the entire week and by Friday they had all but forgotten it had happened.

Since they had watched movies instead of investigate the last of Ymir's exes to investigate, Krista was determined to visit ex number 6. She dragged Ymir out of bed too early for the brunette's liking and forced her to prepare herself.

_Why are we up so early?_ Ymir grumbled distastefully. She rested her head on her front paws and felt the car vibrate softly after Krista ignited the engine.

"Well, you managed to distract me enough with lazing around this past week and we haven't been able to visit anyone else on the list." Krista responded matter-of-factly and steered the car out of the driveway. Ymir just snorted. "So, who is ex number 6?"

_Her name is Megan. She owns a bakery in town. Do you know the place, it's called Rose Bakery__?_

Krista's eyes widened. "I do! I go there all the time. Does she own it or just work there?"

_Owns the place and lives there too. I met her there when I wondered in because of the wonderful smells._

Krista glanced over at the brunette with a tiny smile. "Sounds romantic. How did you end up sleeping with her?"

Ymir sighed and shifted to lie on her side. She had long since given up in not answering the blonde's questions because she could be damn persistent.

_She was behind the counter and when she turned after hearing me approach I felt an instant attraction. She was beautiful, obviously, probably still is. After flirting endlessly with her I eventually bought something and left… with her number. I would visit occasionally in between my other conquests, girls I just chased and never got anywhere with, and Megan eventually grew to trust me. We were talking up in her apartment above the business __one day __and I couldn't control my desire to kiss her. One thing led to another and we ended up sleeping together. I left right after she fell asleep and never came back._

Krista frowned deeply. "Why does it sound like this is different?"

Ymir scoffed. _Different? You're making things up here, shortie._

Krista tightened her hands on the steering wheel and remained silent after that, not knowing what to say or how to respond. She felt like Ymir was being defensive, but why?

Before long they reached town and Krista parked in one of the busy parking lots beside a section of the town, comprised of a small grocery shop and many food and sweet shops.

"Ready?" Krista asked. Ymir just huffed in response.

The blonde and the husky went into the shop named 'Rose Bakery', the bell above the door jingling lightly to announce their entrance, and Krista immediately walked up to the counter. A really beautiful blonde turned around from something she had been doing and smiled warmly at Krista.

"Hi, what can I do for you today?" She asked in an attractively husky and feminine voice. Krista gave her a sneaky once over and noted that she was average height, obviously taller than Krista, had light blonde hair to her shoulders and tied up in a ponytail and startling green eyes. She wore a pink shirt with jeans and an apron with the 'Rose Bakery' title stitched to the front. All in all, she really was beautiful, just like Ymir had said she was.

"Uh, hi. I'm Krista. I hope you don't mind my dog." She pointed down at Ymir who was sitting beside her.

"Well, normally I don't allow animals in here, but you seem to be here for more than just a treat, am I right?"

Krista blinked. "Actually, yes. I came to question you about someone. It's Megan, right?"

The blonde nodded and smiled. "That determined look in your eyes gave it away. I can't step away for just anything, though, so I'll need to know what you wish to ask me about."

Krista took a breath. Megan seemed really sweet and not at all like the other exes. In fact, she was the complete opposite of the other 5 women. It suddenly felt like a bad idea to lie to her so Krista swallowed and clasped her hands together. "Actually, I need to ask you a few things about Ymir."

At the mention of the brunette's name Megan's eyes widened and she looked away. Krista thought she was about to be asked to leave but Megan pulled the apron off and beckoned for Krista to round the counter.

"Come with me to my upstairs apartment where we can talk in private." Krista followed her towards the stairs she hadn't noticed in the back but paused when Megan did. "Rob, can you please take over for me quick?" She called into the kitchen. Moments later a large blonde man resembling Megan quite a bit lumbered out of the kitchen and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. He seemed to have been planning an argument but his face suddenly changed. He flicked his eyes over to Krista, back to Megan's face and then nodded.

"Alright, Meg. Take all the time you need." He leaned forward and pressed a brotherly kiss to her forehead and then he gave Krista one last, hard stare and took a position by the counter.

"That's my brother, Robert." Megan clarified upon seeing Krista study him and then continued up the stairs. She unlocked the door and stepped in, closing it once Krista had entered too. Megan pointed to the couch. "Have a seat, I'll be right back."

Krista nodded and went to sit down on the comfortable couch while Megan disappeared into a hallway. The room was a lounge, dining room and kitchen all in one. The kitchen was only separated by counters and the lounge separated from the dining room by the couch. It was a very homely place, with family pictures on the walls, probably of Megan's family, and warm colours around the room. The atmosphere put Krista to ease, though she still felt a bout of nervousness in her stomach. This visit felt a lot more serious and personal.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Megan returned to the room and sat on the single couch in front of the blue eyed blonde. "So, this is about Ymir?" Her hands tightened in her lap but her face remained calm.

"I'm sorry for showing up suddenly like this, but uh…" Krista wracked her brain for a plausible excuse. She didn't feel comfortable with using the lies she had up until this point and wanted to come up with something at least slightly true, or at least hinting to a truth. Maybe even something that could possibly be true.

_Why are you pausing like that? Aren't you here to find out if I have killed someone or if someone has killed me, or something?_ Ymir grumbled into Krista's mind. The husky had remained so silent since they entered the shop that Krista startled slightly and stifled a gasp. She had completely forgotten that Ymir was with her.

Krista swallowed. She had an idea. "Ymir is a close… friend of mine. I know about her past and everything." Megan flinched slightly. Krista hoped she would explain what had happened between her and Ymir. "We had an argument a few days ago and she left saying she was going to visit an old friend. I'm trying to find her and I noticed your bakery so I thought I would come here to check if maybe she had decided to come here."

Megan listened silently, eyes fixed to the floor. She heaved a soft sigh and bit her lip. "She wouldn't come here. Not after what happened between us." She left her response there, making Krista swallow her guilt and lean forward.

"What happened between you and her? I only know the small details…" She was probably being a jerk about it, but she couldn't help but ask. Sure, it was for their search in the person that had cursed her, but Krista was now on another mission. She wanted to learn what had happened, exactly, to get to know a bit more of the brunette, even just slightly. This was definitely not just another fling that led to a psycho ex.

"I… I would rather not talk about it. Ymir never came here and I really doubt she will. If she does, though, I will contact you immediately." Megan's eyes looked saddened and her lip trembled, making Krista's heart squeeze in guilt. The blue eyed blonde had to remember that she was doing this for Ymir, she couldn't break down now and blurt out the actual situation just because she felt guilty. She did have to hold her tongue though to keep from repeatedly apologising.

"I'm sorry, I feel like a jerk for asking. I'll go now." Krista stood and made her way to the door after placing her card on the table. "Please contact me if she visits by any chance."

"Wait," Megan grabbed Krista's wrist to stop her and nibbled on her lower lip for a moment before seemingly making up her mind and looking Krista in the eye. "If you are by any chance involved with her romantically, I warn you to be careful. She isn't a bad person, but she has commitment issues. I won't tell you the story, but I will say that I came to genuinely care about her. I thought she felt the same but she left me after getting what she had really wanted. I hold no ill feelings towards her for it, since I willingly gave that to her, but I do still have that hurt with me. She was drowning in her own destructive behaviour, and I only realized that after she left. Please, keep your distance because you are exactly her type and it would be a shame for such a nice girl like you to have a broken heart."

Krista looked at her with a little lip tremble of her own but nodded her head. "Don't worry, we're only friends. I'm… I'm actually determined to help her, no matter the cost. I'm sorry for everything she did to you."

Megan sighed but released Krista's wrist, opened the door and smiled genuinely at her. "Thank you for trying to, but it isn't you who needs to apologise. I promise that if she comes here I will contact you, and I'm sorry that I can't help more than that."

Krista hurriedly shook her head and waved her hands. "No! You've helped tons already. I need to leave right now, so I'll just go and continue my search. Enjoy the rest of your day." She left the apartment and made her way down the stairs, not looking back and not hearing following footsteps. She passed Robert and gave him a small smile as she passed. Thankfully he smiled back but turned to the stairs in puzzlement, a worried frown on his lips.

Krista burst out of the shop and went over to her car. She leaned against it and looked down at Ymir. In all of that emotional conversation she had forgotten about Ymir again.

"So, what happened exactly? This isn't another crazy ex." Krista demanded, glaring slightly down at Ymir. The dog sat down and glared right back.

_If you really want to know, then fine, I'll tell you. _

Krista wrapped her arms around herself and nodded slightly, indicating that she was waiting. Ymir sighed in irritation and prepared to tell the blonde about what had happened.

_After sleeping with her I left, but her brother caught up with me a while after. He… he told me a few things that really annoying the hell out of me._

Krista's face remained thoughtful. "What did he say?"

XxX

A while later Ymir and finished telling the story and reluctantly sat there on the ground beside the blonde. They had relocated to the centre of town where a small garden and fountain sat with benches for shoppers to sit and rest. Ymir was resisting the intense urge to run, and smartly didn't flee.

"Ymir…" Krista sighed and reached down to pet Ymir's head.

_What the hell are you doing?_ Ymir growled, both in her mind and audibly and jumped away from the touch. _Don't touch me with that face full of pity. I don't want you to pity me. _

Krista slumped her shoulders and just shrugged. "Sorry." She didn't know what else to say. After hearing that tale she felt quite solemn, especially for Ymir's sake. She wanted to just grab the brunette and hug her until she felt alright but she couldn't because Ymir refused to let anyone actually help her.

Ymir finally glanced up and noticed that Krista had teary eyes. Her chest tightened slightly and she felt a twinge of guilt. She knew she was being an asshole, but she didn't know how not to be. Hesitantly, Ymir scooted closer to Krista and leaned against her leg.

_Hey, don't cry. I'm… sorry. I go into asshole mode when I'm upset. _

Krista sniffled and wiped the moisture from her face. She beamed down at Ymir, so happy that she had decided to apologise. "I understand Ymir, I wasn't upset about you being mean. I'm used to that by now." Her smile faltered and she blushed slightly, looking away. Ymir raised an eyebrow. "C-could I maybe… hug you… please?"

Ymir immediately knew that saying yes was a very bad idea, for multiple reasons, but she was always a sucker for crying blondes. She sighed but bumped her head against Krista's knee.

_Sure, but make it quick._

Krista refrained from smiling too brightly and quickly got down onto her knees so that she could wrap her arms around Ymir's neck and give the husky a long, tight hug. She stroked her cheek against Ymir's soft brown fur and purred slightly.

_K-Krista… I think that's e-enough…_ Ymir said into the blonde's mind, her internal voice sounding strained. Krista ignored her, though, and just continued to hold her tightly and bury her face against her furry neck.

_Krista… seriously… I…_ Ymir didn't know how to explain it but struggled with all of her strength to get out of the blonde's arms. She needed to get away from Krista. She couldn't be so close to her body like that, for so long. When Ymir was about to resort to growling and barking, someone thankfully interrupted them and grabbed the blonde's attention.

"Krista!"

Said blonde suddenly released Ymir and turned around in surprise. "Sasha!" She exclaimed happily and stood in time to get glomped by the brunette.

"It's been soooo long, God." Sasha whined and slipped down to her knees so that she could hug Krista around the waist and playfully sob.

"Still calling me that after all these years?" Krista asked with a laugh and gave Sasha a pat on the head.

"She will never forget the day you fed her after she suffered hours of being hungry in detention." Mikasa spoke up, alerting the blonde that the girl on her knees wasn't alone.

"She worships anyone that fed her through high school, though you're the only one she calls 'God'." Armin offered with a laugh.

"It's 'cause Krista is so angelic!" Eren mocked and popped up behind Mikasa. "Hey Krista, it's been way too long."

Krista smiled warmly at her friends and laughed for a moment. She eventually got Sasha back onto her feet and gave all of them tight hugs.

"I'm so glad to see you all! I'm sorry for ignoring you guys for the past month. I've been so swamped with school work…" She paused. "And other things."

Ymir's ears twitched when she heard that, knowing that the blonde was referring to her. Now she was just a 'thing'? A problem? Ymir growled deeply in her chest and looked off to the side, not wanting to watch the stupid friendly interaction. It was bad enough that her body was burning once more, worryingly so, but now she was angered again.

"Oh hey, is this the dog Petra mentioned?" Sasha spoke up, noticing the sulking husky behind Krista.

"Yeah, I, uh, found her. She's a stray, I think, and I'm still trying to find a home for her." Krista responded and sent a worried glance over to Ymir. The brunette caught it and rolled her eyes.

_I won't bite, don't worry, Princess._

Sasha was about to happily launch herself at the dog but Mikasa tugged her hand and sighed in exasperation. "Sasha, we don't have time for you to roll around with Krista's dog. We need to meet the others, remember? We're going for lunch."

Sasha smiled brightly at the mention of food and started tugging Mikasa with her towards the direction they had been going before noticing Krista. "Then let's goooo. I don't want to be late!" The light brunette whined, making Mikasa roll her eyes but smile softly.

"Sorry Krista, but we have to go!" Mikasa managed to say before she had been pulled away.

Krista turned to the guys questioningly. "The others?"

"Oh, yeah!" Armin said. "We're going to meet up with Petra, Annie and Berthold at that restaurant Sasha loves. Since Bert is in town we decided to gather. We would have invited you but we weren't sure if you were still busy with school, and we know how bad you feel when you can't hang out with us."

Krista smiled in appreciation for the thought. She realized that she had been so occupied with her own little bubble consisting of school and Ymir that she had neglected the other people in her life.

"Would you like to join us? Bert will be ecstatic as hell to see you too." Eren suggested with a grin. He flung an arm over Armin's shoulder and stared expectantly at Krista.

The blonde smiled. "Of course." She glanced down at Ymir. "I know where the restaurant is, so I'll catch up with you guys if that's okay. I just have something to take care of quickly."

Armin and Eren smiled and nodded and then headed off in the direction the couple had disappeared into.

"Ymir…" Krista reached out for the brunette but Ymir backed away, avoiding her touch. "Ymir?"

_You wanna hang out with your friends, right? I'm in the way, so I'll just walk home._

The husky turned to leave but Krista quickly stepped in front of her to stop her. "No! I was going to ask if you wouldn't mind coming with me. If you don't want to then we can just go home, my friends will understand." Krista held her arms out, determined not to let Ymir around her. If it came down to it she could even tackle her.

Ymir studied Krista's face for a moment, waiting to see a change in the determination and hope in her eyes, but there was none and she felt her pulse quicken even more. Ymir let her ears fold against her head and looked up at Krista, almost hesitantly.

_Really?_ She asked. _You wouldn't mind having me around there, even though I'm annoying? I thought you would have wanted to be rid of me by now._

Krista shook her head. "You never annoy me. I want you around, Ymir." She blushed slightly, not willing to admit to herself how true that statement really was and the things it made her feel.

Ymir's ears perked again, and if she could she would have smirked. _Well then, let's go and pretend like I'm not a freakin' shape shifter or whatever. Think your friends will coo at me? _

Krista giggled at the mental imagine. They started walking together and Krista smiled, glad that Ymir's bad mood had seemed to disappear and she was teasing again. "Well, you are adorable so they probably will. Bert just loves dogs, too. He's so big but he's a gentle giant."

Ymir raised an eyebrow. She didn't comment, though, and just walked silently beside Krista.

"So, can I ask you something?" Krista inevitably spoke up. She never could seem to keep the silence, which annoyed Ymir most of the time.

_You already did._ Ymir responded sarcastically.

"Ymiiiir, I know. But seriously."

Ymir would have smiled, but couldn't. _Sure then, go ahead. It's not like I could stop you anyway. _

Krista had to agree with the brunette. Since she was so damn stubborn, Krista had to develop an ability to bother and pester her until she gave up and answered a question of hers. So far it was working and Ymir only stayed stubborn for a little bit until she gave up with a sigh.

"What did my hug feel like?" Krista asked with a blush and looked away.

_Like a hug…?_

"Ymir, you're pointing out the obvious."

_Well how else is a hug supposed to feel?!_

"Was it warm, or nice?" Krista didn't even really know why she was asking this.

Ymir grumbled softly and looked at the ground. _Yeah sure… guess it was nice…_ She responded softly.

"Really? Can I hug you again?" Krista asked hopefully, prepared to get right back down onto her knees again.

_NO! _Ymir responded forcefully, making Krista flinch and blink back sudden tears. Ymir noticed this and sighed. _No… I don't mean… Krista… it's…_ She tried to think of a way to explain why the blonde couldn't hug her, but it was providing to be difficult.

Krista glanced over at Ymir and finally noticed that she was panting quite heavily. Her fur even looked slight damn with… sweat?

"Ymir, what's wrong?" Krista crouched down in front of her and grabbed Ymir's head, forcing her to look into her eyes.

Ymir grit her teeth. _Nothing._

"It isn't nothing. Do you have another fever? What's wrong?"

_I said there's nothing wrong!_

"You know that I can see right through you. I refuse to go anywhere if you aren't feeling well."

Ymir sighed and rolled her eyes._ Don't be stupid and sacrifice a day with your friends for me. I'm fine and that's it. _But as she said that Ymir shook violently because of her own body temperature, no longer able to hide it anymore. She saw Krista's frown and sighed. _Okay, fine. I've been burning up for a while now and __I think __I'm about to transform._

"Now?" Krista gasped.

_A while ago, actually. I've trying to hold it back._

"I didn't know you can do that. We should get you home though, right now."

_No_, Ymir said stubbornly,_ this is why I didn't want to tell you. I can hold it off until we get home._

"Ymir!" Krista said sternly and stood, arms outstretched towards the dog. "I'm taking you home right now!"

Ymir growled and backed up. She turned and prepared to run off but Krista suddenly tackled her and they ended up rolling off of the sidewalk and into a bunch of bushes. There was an open area in the middle of the bushes, perfectly hidden. They rolled right into the centre, with Krista on her back and Ymir standing over her.

Ymir swallowed. Crap, this position was making her body heat even more. She couldn't hold it in anymore and the second she looked into Krista's face and saw the deep blush there, her control completely slipped and Ymir felt her body morph back into proper human form.

"Y-Ymir?" Krista squeaked out and watched as Ymir changed within seconds, surrounded by slight steam that rolled off of her bronze skin and rose into the sky.

"Shit." Ymir exclaimed and looked down at Krista. She was now lying on top of her, naked. That in itself wasn't really the problem, but they were in public and Ymir wasn't able to change herself at will, if that was even possible. Neither of them really had time to be embarrassed, because there was a sudden rustling of the bushes behind Ymir and then a voice called out.

"Krista?! We saw you fall in here! Are you okay?"

Ymir lifted herself off of Krista, either forgetting or not caring about her nakedness and prepared to step out of the bushes. Before she could properly get onto her feet, though, Krista squeaked in horror and latched herself to Ymir's front. She had her arms wrapped around her torso just under her armpits and her legs wrapped around her upper thighs, koala'ing the now very surprised and very flushed brunette.

Eren moved some branches to the side and popped his head in, and then promptly gasped and fell over. "K-Krista?!" He shouted in surprise.

Krista groaned internally, both from realizing that her cheek was pressed up against Ymir's warm chest, right above her breasts, and her front was firmly pressed against the taller woman's, feeling every muscle ripple against her, and from the embarrassment of her friends seeing them in this position.

"Eren?" Armin asked in alarm and helped his friend to his feet. "What happened?" He turned to look at what had startled Eren so much and his eyes grew wide. "Oh…"

Ymir rolled her eyes, not impressed, and stepped confidently out of the cover of the bushes with Krista still attached to her front, covering most of her naked body. She glared at the two guys staring at her and gaping at Krista, and cocked an eyebrow.

"So, hi." She said lowly, making Krista shiver with the rumble of her chest. "I'm Ymir."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Krista tried to regulate her breathing as she walked next to a slouching, human Ymir. The brunette looked bored and had her hands stuffed into the pockets of her newly bought black pants.

When Krista had calmed herself enough she introduced Ymir as her nudist neighbour once more. People had gapped and pointed at the fully nude brunette so none of them had the time to stand there and marvel.

Armin quickly led them to the closest clothes shop and Krista bought an outfit for Ymir, which consisted of a long sleeved grey shirt, black pants and black and white sneakers – underwear included, of course. Instead of going home right after, though, they ended up going with Eren and Armin to meet up with the others. Ymir was being stubborn and refused to go, making Krista a panicked mess because the brunette could turn at any second and she knew there would be no way to properly explain it if that happened. Ymir did say that she would always feel the change coming a minute or two before it happened, so if she felt it she could quickly escape to a bathroom or something. That wasn't enough to calm the blonde's nerves though.

Besides the panic of public discovery, Krista felt her own body temperature rise and she couldn't stop staring at Ymir. It was rare to glance _up_ at her face and see those annoyed but gorgeous brown eye and the sprinkle of freckles during the daylight. Krista was so used to spending after midnights with the human Ymir.

In front of them Armin glanced back and gave Ymir a quick suspicious once over. He returned forward and leaned over to whisper something to Eren. Neither of them believed the whole explanation Krista had given them, at least, they thought there was more to it. Armin was the one that really thought the whole thing was more peculiar than it looked and Eren was just upset that Krista was associated with a nudist. Since they were small children Eren had felt insanely protective over not just Krista, but his other friends and family as well. He did not like the tall brunette or the bad vibes rolling off of her. But Krista wasn't stupid, he knew that, and he did not want to hurt the blonde by insulting her friend. He did have to grit his teeth to keep his comments to himself, though.

Ymir straightened and glanced over at the nervous and trembling blonde. She could see her hands shaking even all the way up at her height. She frowned. "Krista, why are you so anxious?" She asked softly and glared at Eren when he turned at the sound of her voice. Eren just glared back and turned back around.

"Do you really need to ask?" Krista replied in a hurried whisper. She couldn't meet Ymir's gaze because her heart was already hammering and looking into Ymir's intense eyes made her body even hotter. There was just this magnetic pull, this strong force behind the brunette's brown eyes whenever she gazed into the blonde's blues.

"Whatever." Ymir responded and glared forward.

A few minutes later they reached the restaurant and found the others seated at a big table at the outside area that also acted as the smoking area. They quickly approached the table and greeted everyone.

Petra glanced up when they reached the table, smiled brightly upon seeing Krista, and then rose her eyebrows and her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed Ymir's tall figure.

Ymir noticed and felt the urge to insult Petra but Krista grabbed her arm, stopping her. The brunette glanced down into Krista's pleading eyes and sighed.

"Behave, please?"

"Fine." Ymir shifted her gaze and decided to ignore everyone else.

By this time Armin had taken a seat beside Annie who asked him about the new guest. He told her what had happened and Annie stared long and hard at Ymir. She shrugged her shoulders, deciding that Krista was responsible for whatever took place with the suspicious looking person.

Eren had taken a seat next to Mikasa and Sasha, who were both looking curiously at Ymir. Mikasa had more of a blankly curious look while Sasha openly gapped like a fish.

"Eren! Who is the tall person?" Sasha asked her brother-in-law, still gaping openly at said tall person.

Eren growled softly, crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "Ask Krista yourself. She should introduce everyone to her new _friend_." Mikasa raised an eyebrow at Eren's tone and know instantly that he was feeling protective over Krista.

"Krista!" Sasha called out cheerfully and waved at the blonde.

Ymir and Krista had taken a seat, Krista next to Petra and Ymir next to Krista at the end of the table. The brunette simply slumped down in the chair and stared of to the side, unimpressed. Krista glanced at her worriedly the entire time and took a few seconds to realize Sasha was calling for her.

"Who is the tall person?" Sasha asked after Krista finally turned to her.

Ymir didn't respond to that and only quirked an eyebrow, leaving Krista to do the introduction. Krista sighed softly and gave the group a nervous smile. She was about to answer, but then she noticed that something was missing. "Where's Berthold?" She asked.

"He got a call from Reiner and stepped away for a moment. He should be back soon." Mikasa answered before anyone else could. "So, who is your guest?" The black haired woman pressed, just as intrigued as everyone else to have the blonde properly introduce her.

"I'm Ymir. Not 'guest' or 'tall person'" Ymir grumbled without looking at anyone.

Krista sighed deeply and tapped Ymir's elbow to get her attention. "Don't give them attitude, please? You insisted that we come." She whispered softly into Ymir's ear. Ymir just rolled her eyes and huffed in agreement. She returned to her previous position and stared off into space again.

The group watched their interaction with interest. Krista wasn't known for making new friends because she was quite timid and most of the time only interested in her studies. The fact that she had met and become close to another person pleasantly surprised all of them. And by the looks of it, Ymir and Krista were quite close already.

"So this is Ymir, a neighbour. We've been hanging out lately." Krista said and forced a cheerful smile. It was difficult to act like she wasn't starting to burn up on the inside and wondered again why Ymir was being so difficult and making them stay through this torture.

Petra's surprise had not dissipated since she had spotted Ymir. She narrowed her eyes slightly while staring at the two, but chose not to ask anything because she knew she wouldn't be answered anyway.

Before anyone else could chip in about Ymir, Berthold returned and greeted the rest of the group with his usual cheerful smile. Krista smiled brightly and stood up to give the giant of a man an equally giant hug.

"Krista!" Berthold exclaimed happily and lifted Krista out of her chair and high up into his arms. The blonde giggled and hugged him back and then demanded that she be put back onto her feet. "It's been too long." He smiled gently and gave her one more quick hug.

"It really has. I'm sorry that I haven't called or anything, I've just been really busy."

Berthold waved his hand. "It's okay, really. I wouldn't want to bother you anyway." He sighed happily and then finally noticed the burning brown eyes glaring holes into him. His smile faltered and he sent a questioning look at Krista.

"Oh, uh, this…" Krista tugged at Ymir's shirt to get her to stand up and smiled in appreciation when she did. "Is Ymir." She introduced. "Ymir, this is another childhood friend of mine, Berthold. Please greet him properly."

Ymir shifted uncomfortably and only spared a second to look up into his eyes, not used to experiencing someone that much taller than her. She was usually the tall one. After the awkward eye contact she looked off to the side and reluctantly shook his big hand.

"Hello Ymir, it's nice to meet you. How do you know Krista?"

"Yeah, hi." Ymir pulled her hand free and wiped it off on her shirt. She dropped back into her seat and folded her arms across her chest.

Krista would have been upset with Ymir's rudeness, but she noticed the brunette's chest constantly heaving like she was struggling to breathe. Upon further study she saw Ymir's face was flushed and she had beads of sweat trickling down her temples and neck. She was probably in a lot of pain.

"She's not feeling very well, sorry for her manners. She's a neighbour and we've recently started hanging out. How is Reiner?" Krista asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Berthold accepted her explanation with a nod and took a seat at the end of the table. "He's doing fine, actually. He should be coming home soon, hopefully."

"How long has it been?" Armin asked when he noticed Berthold's sad smile.

"About a year and 6 months now."

The others started up conversation about Reiner, giving Krista the opportunity to scoot her chair closer to Ymir and place a hand on her forehead. Ymir was about to swat it away but she was suddenly pulled down by the front of her shirt and a pair of soft lips pressed against the hot skin of her forehead. Without saying anything Krista turned to the waitress that had suddenly appeared and whispered a few words to her. the waitress gave her a strange look and then hurried off.

"What are you doing?" Ymir demanded, not liking Krista's suspicious behaviour.

"You're burning up even more." Krista pointed out. The waitress returned and handed a cloth and a glass of ice to the blonde. "So I'm going to take care of you." She wrapped a few ice blocks in the cloth and started wiping along Ymir's face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ymir yelled in a whisper and leaned away from the cloth.

Krista lowered her arm and sent a glare at Ymir. "You insisted that we come here even though you feel terrible."

"Yeah, so?"

"So at least let me help you. If we can't go home then that means you can't take a cold shower to cool down the heat. You must be in a lot of pain."

Ymir rolled her eyes and pouted. "Whatever."

Krista smiled and went to work on dabbing the cold cloth against Ymir's sweating skin until the ice had melted. When the waitress returned she ordered a few steaks for Ymir, ignoring the brunette's whine that she could do it herself, and forced Ymir to stay still as she tended to her.

"Feeling better?" Krista asked and folded the cloth neatly. She placed it down beside the empty glass that had contained the ice and pushed the glass away.

Ymir cleared her through and thought about being honest but felt strangely guilty. She saw the hopeful look in Krista's eyes and nervously scratched her cheek. "Yeah, thanks. It helped."

Krista sighed in relief. "If it gets worse then we will leave, okay?"

Ymir opened her mouth to protest and then closed it. Why was she even doing this?

The waitress returned with a tray of their food and distributed it out across the table. It took a few trips and a second waiter's helps but eventually everyone had their drinks and food. Ymir was thinking of being stubborn about eating, but the moment she smelt the meat placed in front of her, her stomach growled playfully and she went into a trance. It was three big, juicy steaks and she tore into them with fervour. Everyone else at the table paused to watch her in surprise as she wolfed the food down. It didn't even take a minute until it was done and she slumped forward in relief. Krista just giggled and smiled fondly. She ran a comforting hand down Ymir's back and leaned against her.

"Feeling better still?"

Ymir turned her head to give Krista a grin. "Yeah."

"Good." Krista noticed all eyes on them and blushed. "She has a big appetite…" She explained. Ymir just shrugged and returned to sitting slumped down in the chair with her arms crossed over her chest. It felt surprisingly good to be human during the daylight, despite the fever burning her up. She was trying her utmost to hide it from Krista, but it was becoming more difficult the longer they stayed.

Krista hardly paid attention to anyone other than Ymir, and everyone including Ymir noticed this.

"How are you feeling now?" Krista asked in concern. All of their meals and dessert had been eaten and the table was cleared. The group was in the process of breaking the bill and each paid for their meals.

Krista turned to Ymir. "You're sweating even more now." She pointed out.

Ymir nodded and stood. She grabbed Krista's hand, pulled her out of her chair and made her way for the door.

"Krista?!" Berthold called out.

"Sorry Bert! Everyone, I have to go! Thanks for the afternoon." Krista called back before she was out of earshot. Everyone just smiled and waved back, though Petra added a raised eyebrow as she still wondered who Ymir really was and what she and Krista were up to.

Once outside of the restaurant they walked towards the parking lot where Krista's car waited, Ymir not dropping Krista's hand.

"Why did you do that?" Krista asked.

"Do what? Drag you out?"

"No, why did you make us sit with them for the past hour?"

Ymir dropped Krista's hand and waited for the blonde to unlock her car. She didn't answer until they were both seated and Krista started the car. "I didn't want to continue keeping you away from your friends." Ymir grumbled softly, too low for Krista to hear.

The blonde navigated the car out of the parking lot and down the road, in the direction of her house. "Speak up Ymir. I can't hear when you're mumbling."

Ymir rolled her eyes. "I said that I didn't want to keep you from your friends." She responded louder with a slight blush on her freckles.

"You don't."

"Oh really? Because of me and my weird dog thing, you've barely left the house in a whole month." Ymir scowled and glared out of the window. She didn't like having to admit this and had to supress the urge to be mean to stop the conversation.

"That's because I wanted to stay home with you. I also want to stay home to study, so none of this is because of you. The few breaks I took were actually because of you, because I normally study until I drop and I don't have anyone to tell me when to stop." Krista glanced at Ymir quickly. "So you don't need to feel guilty about anything."

"Guilty?" Ymir scoffed. "I'm not guilty. Just didn't want to owe you, is all."

Krista smiled softly at the obvious lie. "Whatever you say. How's the fever?"

"Fevering away."

"When we get home I'll get another cloth and wipe you down again, or you can take a shower."

Ymir pressed her mouth against her palm and hid her smile. "I'll shower. I don't need you feeling my body up every day."

Krista blushed. "I-I don't!"

"Sure." Ymir gave Krista a look and wiggled her eyebrows. "Like you're not hot for me." She smirked brightly when Krista's face reddened even more.

Luckily they made it to Krista's house and she jumped out after parking the car. Escaping the embarrassing teasing, Krista hurried into the house and went into the bathroom to start the shower for Ymir.

Krista swallowed. She was. She was hot for Ymir. She had been for a while now and finally admitted it to herself. After spending the day with a human Ymir, she realized her attraction was getting out of hand. Ymir wasn't the only one suffering that fever, Krista was too. She felt an intense pull towards the brunette and had to resist the urge to kiss her with every bit of strength she had. But why? Why was she so damn attracted to Ymir?

Maybe it was her tall, toned body, or her darkly tanned, smooth skin. Could it be those sexy freckles, or the attractive intensity in her eyes? Was it her eyes that burned right through Krista and made her want to melt?

Krista shivered. She walked out of the bathroom and into her bedroom to get a pair of boxers and a shirt for the brunette. She noted that she should ask Ymir if she wanted to buy a few more outfits, for if this strange occurrence happened again and Ymir found herself human during the day.

"You know," Ymir spoke up from the bedroom doorway, startling Krista into dropping the clothes from her hands. "It feels good, but almost weird walking on two legs for so long." Ymir pushed off from where she had been leaning against the doorframe and brushed against Krista as she leaned down to pick up the clothes. "It feels…" She stood up, brushing up against Krista again and swallowing hard after realizing that she had unintentionally put them in a compromising position. They were standing dangerously close and Krista looked up into Ymir's flustered face.

Their eyes locked and it was as if some event had just been cemented into place, whether either of them liked it or not. But they did. Ymir reached out and caressed Krista's cheek. "Almost…" She husked softly, breathing in short, irregular gasps. "Kind of…" Krista could only stare like a lost puppy, knees shaking and weak. She hesitantly grabbed the front of Ymir's shirt to steady herself and ended up leaning against her chest, bringing them even closer together. Ymir leaned down and titled Krista's head up with a finger underneath her chin. "Foreign…" She finally concluded her long running sentence and wrapped an arm around Krista's waist, pulling her up and against her body.

"Ymir?"

"I can't…" The sentence died on her lips as she pressed them softly to Krista's, eliciting a soft whimper from the blonde.

They kissed softly, both too afraid to really kiss back because it felt like with one move they'd both explode. But Krista couldn't hold herself back anymore and kissed back harder. Ymir responded with a growl and backed Krista up until she pressed her up against the wall and placed a hand underneath her thigh, pulling Krista's leg up against her.

Krista's mind was running with thoughts as she felt Ymir's hand stroke her stomach and her lips burn against her own. It felt so amazingly wonderful that Krista wanted to let go and to let Ymir kiss her until they were both blue in the face. And she almost let her.

When Ymir slipped her hand underneath her shirt and caressed her smooth stomach, it sent a strong jolt through Krista that brought her back to her senses.

"Ymir, no…" She pushed against Ymir's chest and the brunette immediately pulled back, panting and dishevelled.

"What's wrong?"

Krista nearly kissed her again when she saw the genuine concern in her eyes, but she pushed Ymir back even further and forced her heart to calm down. "You, uh, should take a shower." She quickly made her way to the door but Ymir grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"Wait. Why?"

Krista didn't look back, but she swore she could hear hurt and rejection in Ymir's tone. "I'll make dinner for us later but I need some time alone right now to do some studying." She gently pulled her wrist free and Ymir let her. "Hope the shower helps." Krista left the room, fighting with all her strength not to turn around and push Ymir right up against the wall where they had been just a moment ago. But she couldn't. In all her time knowing the brunette she had learnt one thing. Once Ymir slept with someone, she lost all interest.

Krista didn't care if Ymir only wanted her body, or if she was just doing this because of the curse or to pay her back for her kindness, or something, but she did not want anything between them to change. She did want Ymir, she could definitely admit that now, but she cared enough to keep her distance. Ymir could always do better, and she really did cherish their friendship. Whatever that was, it could never happen again or become something more.

As Krista left, Ymir watched her back with clenched teeth and a fire in her eyes. She growled, almost loud enough for Krista to hear, and violently kicked the wall. She felt no pain at all but did feel satisfied at the loud crunch as her shoe crashed into the wall and created a hole. It didn't even matter that she had somehow kicked a wall through a brick wall without feeling a thing.

Ymir took deep breaths and stalked into the bathroom, angrily throwing her clothes off as she went. The shower had been on the entire time so all Ymir had to do was step under the spray of freezing water. Once under the cool liquid, Ymir's anger immediately melted and she pressed her forehead against the glass door. She pressed her fist beside her head and slowly spread her fingers out. She watched her long fingers uncurl and sighed softly to herself. There was a tightening in her chest, and then she lightly bumped her head against the glass to clear her mind.

"Doesn't matter." She muttered tonelessly to herself. "Never fucking matters."


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: Welcome back, readers! So you are all probably wondering why I needed to take a break in updating. I recently moved, and it was getting increasingly difficult to update on time, and I didn't want to be late. So I decided to take a break and focus on the move, and once I was settled in, focus on writing. So, I'm all settled in now and Bad Dog can continue ^^ I thank you all for waiting and for sticking with me. I hope you enjoy the rest of Bad Dog, and the few oneshots I wrote to make it up to all of you ^^

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Chapter 12

Ymir's eyes fluttered as she woke and stared up at the boring, grey ceiling. For a moment she lay in blissful peace, but then the events of the previous few days flooded into her mind and she covered her face with an arm. She sighed deeply with a frown and forced the memories out of her mind.

Ymir uncovered her face and then climbed out of bed, made her way into the bathroom down the hall and stripped out of her t-shirt and underwear. She turned the shower on and climbed in, sighing in relief this time as the warm water washed the sweat and guilt from her body. Worrying about useless stuff wouldn't help her. Feeling guilty would only way her down. Ymir didn't have time for useless emotions such as those.

Now clean and somewhat clear minded, Ymir shut the shower off and dried herself with a towel once she stepped out. After she was properly dry she went into her bedroom, and then dressed in a pair of dark blue jean shorts and a sleeveless black shirt. It was damn hot and she wasn't planning on going out anywhere. Ymir liked to spend her Saturdays watching TV – alone.

The tall woman finished brushing her short brown hair and then paused to study her freckles in the mirror. She looked into her own eyes and then looked away, unable to see what she was reflected back at her so openly.

It was quiet in the apartment, almost hair-pullingly so. There was no one other than Ymir living there because she much preferred the solitary life than to invite someone to annoy and stress her out. She was rarely even lonely.

Ymir eventually plopped down onto her couch and turned the TV on after she had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. A quick glance at the clock above the TV told her that it was only 11 a.m.

Before she could even settle in to waste the morning on TV the house phone rang and Ymir leaned over to snatch the phone off of the table beside the couch. She didn't bother to check who the caller was and answered with a gruff greeting and settled back against the couch, arm stretched out on the backrest and one foot resting on the coffee table with her leg bent and resting over the other.

"Hello?"

"Ymir, it's been a while."

Ymir immediately tensed up when she heard the familiar voice. She clenched her teeth together and balled her free hand into a very tight fist.

"Missing me already?" She replied dryly.

"I wouldn't quite say that." The person responded with displeased amusement.

"What the fuck do you want?" Ymir growled and resisted the urge to put the phone down.

"It's dad's birthday tomorrow." The person said. "I figured I'd call to let you know."

Ymir rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Like I give a fuck. You haven't contacted me in 10 years, so why now?"

The person sighed like this response had been expected, and it probably had been. "He's sick, Ymir. He doesn't have a lot of time left. The least you can do is show your face to him before he croaks."

"The fucker can die, I don't give a shit. You know why and you are a fucking asshole for calling me. Do you need money, is that it? Daddy is going to die and now you don't have easy money, so why not call Ymir and leech off of her too?"

"Like I'd go to you for financial help. You probably live on the streets anyway. Someone like you can't possibly amount to something."

"Fuck you."

"No, fuck you Ymir. You owe dad an apology and the least you can do is show up and give him some respect."

"An apology?" Ymir's hand tightened around the phone to the point that it cracked slightly. A vein popped out on her neck and her face flushed with anger. "Listen here, you little fucker. I owe that bastard a bullet in the head. I can't believe you actually had the balls to call me. You and that man can fuck off together. You deserve each other!" Ymir yelled, ended the call and then threw the phone into the wall to her right, smashing the phone to pieces. "Fuck!" Ymir growled in anger and covered her face with her hands. She took a series of deep breaths to calm her racing pulse.

Just as she had gotten her anger under control the doorbell rang. Ymir's annoyance spiked and she stormed over to the door but opened in civilly, just in case it was someone she didn't want to insult with her harsh behaviour.

"Yes?" She growled out and glared holes into the big blonde man standing by her doorstep.

"Ymir."

"Who the fuck are you?" Ymir tried to, but she couldn't seem to keep her anger from rising or showing.

"My name is Robert."

"What do you want?"

Robert gave Ymir a hard look, his lips pressed together in a thin, pale line. He seemed deeply troubled with dark circles under his eyes but he also appeared quite upset and angry. "I'm Megan's brother."

At the mention of his sister's name, Ymir's eyes suddenly widened, her face drained of colour and she looked pained, but then her expression shifted and she looked off to the side, face empty and void.

"I'll ask again, what do you want?"

Robert sucked in a deep breath and clenched his hands together. "Don't you feel any remorse at all?" He yelled, hurt and enraged. "I came here to ask why the fuck you hurt my sister the way you did!"

"Is that all?" Ymir turned and gave him a hard stare.

"Is that all you can say? No apology? No explanation?" He clenched and unclenched his hands and jaw, nostrils flaring and face flushing.

"I owe no one an explanation. She let me fuck her so I did. I never promised to stay. This is her own fault. Now can you please leave?"

Robert completely froze for a few seconds, making Ymir roll her eyes and make a move to shut the door in his face since it seemed like he wasn't going to leave. Before she could close the door it was pushed open, Robert came flying inside and Ymir felt a fist connect with her jaw. Her head whipped back with the force and she stumbled backwards a few steps.

Ymir looked up in time to see his fist again but was too slow to dodge it, and had to take the big hand colliding with the side of her face. Ymir fell to the floor and flinched, expecting a kick or something, but nothing came and she remained there on the floor.

"You stay away from my sister." Robert said softly. When Ymir chanced a glance up at him, she saw shock and anguish in his eyes. He hadn't expected to hit her, but once he had he lost control. There were tears in his eyes and flowing down his face. "Don't you ever come near her again. I had to hold her while she broke into pieces and cried for days! You don't even deserve to have her cry for you! You don't deserve any form of happiness or love." He breathed deeply, fists shaking at his sides. "She –"

"Get out!" Ymir shouted. She had gotten onto her hands and knees and stared down at the floor with angry eyes. Small drops of blood dripped from her lip and onto the floor, beside one or two clear drops that shouldn't have been there.

"You–"

"Just get the fuck out. NOW! I will never fucking come near her. So leave. Or do you want to punch me around some more?!" Ymir's whole body trembled.

Robert watched her tall, shaking form on the ground. He saw her tightly clenched hands tremble and the blood collecting on the floor. He felt a slight twinge of guilt for physically harming her, and hated himself for feeling it. Without another word he disappeared, satisfied with the knowledge that whether it was the punch or the words, Ymir understood.

He could see that she understood it all very well, and she hated herself for it.

Ymir waited a long while after his footsteps disappeared before she stood and lamely pushed the door shut. She felt as if all her strength had been drained, and walked limply to the bathroom. Besides the swelling to her lower jaw and cheekbone, she also had a terribly cut lip that was still bleeding and a few cuts and scrapes from when she had fallen. Her fist was bruised since she had knocked it on the hard floor, so she struggled to remove the first aid kit from the bathroom cabinet. It was even more trying to clean her few wounds and bandage what she could.

After an hour of struggling, which was also due to her trembling hands, Ymir took a few pills for her pounding headache and aching heart. She decided to go back to bed, not feeling up to staying awake and being with herself.

Never before then had she ever felt this way, and wished that she wasn't alone.

XxX

Ymir woke with a start and whimpered loudly as she shot up. She looked around in panic, breathing hard, and then calmed when she realized it was just a dream. She was still in Krista's house, sleeping on the couch in her dog form.

She relaxed back onto the seat and breathed through her nose.

Why had she dreamed of that? Why did she have to relive that terrible memory? It was probably because of the recent visit to Megan, and the events after.

_What am I even doing? _Ymir asked herself. She remembered what had happened the day before, when she had lost control and attempted to make Krista hers. It was something she had been intensely resisting since the moment she met the blonde. The pull was almost painful. Not touching Krista was painful. Not looking at her made Ymir ache. Sure, Krista annoyed her a lot of the time, but Ymir had grown to care about her, and need her. Ymir was done wondering if it was real emotions or something created by the weird curse.

All she knew is that she wanted Krista so bad that she ached inside. Not just physically, but with everything else. But she couldn't give in to that, to her longing. For this one moment in her life, Ymir didn't want to pursue someone. She didn't want to trouble Krista more, and now she was determined to work with Krista to get rid of the curse and leave the blonde alone.

Ymir would be okay once she left, she was used to being alone. She just wasn't used to feeling depressed at being unwanted.

"Ymir, are you okay?" Krista asked softly as she came into the lounge. She had heard the strangled whimper and woke almost instinctively. The moment she realized Ymir could be in pain she tumbled out of bed and hurried into the lounge. At first she had paused because of her fear. She wasn't sure if Ymir would be upset with her about the rejection of the previous day, and she also didn't know how to face her after doing that. But she wanted to stay Ymir's friend, and avoiding her wouldn't ensure that.

Ymir sat up and glanced at Krista. Her heart skipped a beat for a second and her body began to burn. Krista looked so cute and sexy at the same time, with her hair dishevelled, her long shirt covering her pink boxers that it almost looked like a dress, and her sleepy but worried face.

_I'm fine, just a bad dream._

Krista glanced at the clock. It was 11 p.m. Ymir would change soon. Krista went over to the couch and sat down beside the husky. She yawned and stretched her small body, and then took some of the blanket she had draped over Ymir much earlier that night and curled up close to her.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

Ymir shook her head._ Just an odd dream. _The brunette looked off to the side, uncomfortable.

"U-um, Ymir… about yesterday…"

_I want to know._ Ymir interrupted.

Krista blinked and swallowed. "Know what?"

_More about you. Is it okay if I ask you questions?_

Krista grew still and stared at Ymir with wide eyes. Was she asking to know more about her? Did she really want to ask Krista questions about herself? "Um…" Krista swallowed the sudden dryness from her throat. "If you want to, of course."

_Do you have any siblings?_ Ymir didn't even wait a beat before she started, not even sure herself of why she was so eager to ask and why she wanted to know so badly. Perhaps it was that if she couldn't get as close to Krista as she wanted, then she could at least still be her friend, which was as close as she could get.

"I don't, I'm an only child."

_Parents?_

"Well… not really… it's sort of a complicated story."

_I wouldn't mind listening… I mean, I need to know who I'm using, right? For all I know you could be a murderer._

"Since when did you worry? You've been content to sleep in my house and eat my food without even wanting to know my name."

_Meh, changed my mind._

Krista giggled. "Okay, I don't mind telling you. So, my father is a really famous business man. I don't know who he is and I've never met him. The reason is that he had an affair with my mother, and I was conceived. He never wanted people to find out that he betrayed his trophy wife, so he paid my mother off. She wasn't allowed to ever tell me who he was but she made sure to let me know that he wasn't even worth getting to know. She was naïve and weak to his charms when they first met, and she thought he would have left his wife for her, or would have at least been in my life. But he chose the coward's way out, and she lost all respect for him."

_Oooh, so you have some daddy issues._

"I don't. I'm curious to know who he is, sometimes, but I've made my piece with it."

_Where's your mother now?_

"Oh, uh… she died a few years back."

Ymir scooted a bit closer to Krista and bumped her shoulder with her head. She suddenly felt like an ass for asking these questions._ Sorry, I'll stop prying. _

Krista risked giving Ymir a quick hug, and smiled in relief when she didn't pull back. "No, don't apologise. Like with my father I've made peace with it."

_Can I ask some more then?_

"Ask as many questions as you want." Krista smiled brightly and felt her heart swell. She had always assumed that Ymir would make it extra hard for them to talk like this. She thought she would never have the brunette ask her questions like this. It made Krista want to cry in happiness, but she didn't because she knew that would freak Ymir out and worry her.

_How old were you when your mother died?_

"I was 16. My grandparents had died many years ago, so I never knew them either. I had no family to go to, but then I found out that a distant aunt lived in the area and I went to her for help. That's how I met my cousin, Petra. They took me in happily and let me live there until I was able to move out. The second I could get a job and support myself, I moved out."

_So how are you paying for university?_

"My father is paying for it. I got a letter in the post one day from him, not saying anything other than that he heard my mother died so he would continue his monthly payments to me if I wanted. At first I rejected him and worked 3 jobs to make enough to survive and to study further, but the stress got to me. I accepted his offer, and I'm still using it now. It makes me feel guilty, but I really need it."

Ymir scoffed. _Oh please, from what I've heard that old geezer owes more than just money to you. He ruined your life by isolating you away from the other half of your family. If I could I would kick his ass right now._

Krista blushed that Ymir was willing to do something like that and smiled. "So, I answered your questions. Do you have parents?"

Ymir grew quiet and cleared her throat. _No, I don't. I really don't want to talk about it… can I ask more questions?_

Krista grew concerned but decided not to push it. She was probably right in her assumption that Ymir hadn't had the best life growing up, so she understood if that was why she didn't want to talk about her life.

So Krista smiled and nodded. "You can, just don't ask anything embarrassing." Krista regretted saying that when Ymir perked up and barked a chuckle.

_Well, now I have a whole new line of questions in mind…_


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: I trust that most of you read the good news from Turbotail88. We are now canon XD lol. These two weeks were more eventful than I expected, and I gained a really wonderful person's love. Really, I'm honoured that she loves me, 'cause I really love her lots. Now, enough of our romance XD you may now read.

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Chapter 13

The two ended up talking for hours. After another line of questions Krista started speaking without the need of a question to answer, and Ymir stopped asking, content to just let her small companion talk about whatever came to her mind. The blonde spoke about her entire childhood, about how she had met all of her friends and how they stuck with her through everything she had gone through. She explained her passion for writing and for sharing the truth with the world, and of what had led her to her current position in life. Krista smartly avoided mentioning her empty love life and constant loneliness that, Krista had to admit, had decreased since Ymir had entered her life.

As Krista continued to speak and Ymir listened, midnight passed and Ymir turned, though they hardly took notice. Ymir just used the blanket to cover herself because she knew Krista would freak out if she sat there naked the whole time.

It was around 2 a.m. when Krista finally ran out of things to mention. Ymir had remained surprisingly alert through it all. Normally she would have grown bored within the first ten minutes and dozed off, but she genuinely found Krista's retelling interesting. She wanted to get to know her.

Though the blonde had run out of stories to tell, she did have a question hanging on her tongue that she had been dying to ask for quite a long time. She hadn't asked because she knew Ymir would never answer, but there was a chance that she would now, so Krista had to risk it. They were in a good, bonded mood at the moment, so it couldn't go too bad.

"Say, Ymir…" Krista spoke up hesitantly. She nervously wrung her hands together and kept her eyes downcast.

"Remember something else to tell me?" Ymir asked in return, a grin tugging at her lips.

"No, actually… can I ask you something?"

Ymir noticed Krista's nervous fidgeting and realized that it was probably going to be a personal or serious question. Figuring that she owed Krista for the questions she had willingly answered, Ymir shrugged and nodded her head. "Sure."

"You've been here for about 2 months now… and I've enjoyed having you here. But," Krista squirmed again. "I've just been wondering this one thing, because it doesn't really make sense."

Ymir raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Why haven't you gone home yet?"

Ymir frowned and her eyebrows came together in confusion. She swallowed the sudden hurt and pulled the blanket tighter around her. "I thought you enjoyed having me here."

Krista's head snapped up at the slight hurt in Ymir's voice that she tried to hide with an indifferent huff and she quickly waved her hands in panic. "No! I didn't mean it like that! I was just wondering why you haven't asked me to take you to your house yet. Even in your dog form, you could have easily directed me to your house or something…"

Ymir stared at Krista for a moment, like the thought had never dawned on her. "I never… thought of it…" Ymir looked off to the side and scowled. There was also a slight blush on her face.

Krista didn't believe her. She must have thought about it once or twice in all the time she had stayed with the blonde. It was impossible that she hadn't. Didn't she have a job? Friends? Family, even though she claimed she had no one? There must have been a few people worried for the brunette's disappearance.

"Ymir, are you su–"

"Yeah, it just slipped my mind. Can I take a shower?" Ymir stood, not waiting for an answer, and headed towards the bathroom.

Krista watched her go and then decided to follow. Ymir would need clothes. Once she got something for the brunette to wear and gave it to her – closing her eyes and blindly waddling around the bathroom to place it on the table beside the shower, making Ymir laugh at her clumsiness – Krista returned to the lounge to do some thinking.

Maybe she would ask Ymir another time, and maybe Ymir would answer her honestly.

XxX

The second week of Krista's winter break passed rather playfully. Despite their few awkward moments, Ymir and Krista got along surprisingly well compared to their previous issues. Ymir spent all of her time getting to know Krista. They did a lot of things together, like shopping – Ymir had decided to accompany the blonde – taking a walk, talking at midnight, and many other pastimes.

On the Friday of the second week, Krista was woken at midnight by a big hand gently shaking her shoulder.

"Krista, oi, Krista?"

The blonde grumbled and cracked her eyes open, squinting up at the face in front of hers. "Ymir?" She released a giant yawn and sat up, rubbing her eyes and groaning. "What's up? You don't normally wake me."

Ymir, leaning over the blonde, straightened and flashed a naughty grin. "Well, there was something I wanted us to do. Do you know how difficult it is to wake you up sometimes? Oh, and you drool." Ymir pointed at the blonde's chin, where a thin line of drool sat.

Krista blushed furiously and wiped it away. "Sorry." She pushed her blanket off and sleepily slid out of bed. "What did you want us to do?" She yawned again and continued to squint, not quite awake yet.

Ymir grabbed Krista's hand and pulled her out of the bedroom. "I want to watch a movie."

"A movie?" Krista blushed again at the feel of Ymir's warm hand in her own. The brunette's skin was almost always feverishly hot, though she seemed to have gotten used to the heat. The hot flushes continued, but a cold shower and big meal helped with the pain. Krista still insisted on wiping Ymir down with a cold cloth, even though she didn't really need it. Krista just wanted an excuse to sit close to her and touch her without being weird about it.

"Yeah! But not just any movie." They entered the lounge and Ymir pushed Krista down onto the couch. She went over to all of the electrical equipment and scrolled around on Krista's laptop that was hooked up to the TV via HDMI cable. It was something the brunette had shown Krista, since the blonde didn't spend a lot of her free time messing with the various technologies she had purchased and never really used. Ymir knew her way around the house better than Krista did, and she could work every bit of technology, most of which Krista had no idea how to use. Krista was amused that Ymir was more in charge of the house than she was, considering whose house it really was.

Ymir pressed play and maximized the screen. She then jumped onto the couch beside Krista, making the blonde bounce for a moment, and then crossed her legs and grinned. "You'll love it." She announced.

Krista rubbed her eyes again and finally got a good look at her companion. Ymir's hair was messily tousled and damp, telling Krista that she had showered before waking her, and she wore a long sleeved black shirt with a pair of jeans – another outfit Krista had bought for her.

"What movie is it?"

Ymir's grin grew bigger. "Just watch and you'll see."

Krista narrowed her eyes, suspicious for good reason. "Is it porn?"

Ymir's shoulders slumped and she sighed. "That was one time, and I'm sorry for scarring your innocent view of the world. I just thought it would be funny."

Krista curled into a ball in the corner of the couch. "And it obviously was with the way you were laughing."

Ymir chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. But no, this isn't porn. Just watch and stop talking."

Krista sighed, still suspicious of Ymir's antics, but settled in and remained quiet to watch the movie. Ymir looked so excited as she grinned like an idiot and stole glances at Krista. The blonde noticed but didn't comment. It was obvious to her that Ymir was waiting for her reaction, and greatly anticipating something amusing.

During their quick conversation the trailers had played and the beginning of the movie was now starting. It opened with a scene of normal, everyday people going to work. The main character was complaining about the mundane quality of life, and the friend tried to keep his spirits up, to no avail.

The first 20 minutes consisted of switching between 3 different people and the lives they led; the man, a woman who worked as a teacher and lived with her cats, and then a teenage boy suffering bullying in school, where the woman worked.

At first Krista couldn't understand Ymir's excitement at all, but then the movie's atmosphere changed to something more ominous, and then a sudden outbreak spread and people lost their minds.

It was a damn zombie movie.

Ymir had stopped watching the movie to watch Krista's face. The blonde's eyes widened as the nature of the film dawned on her, and then she wrapped her arms around her body and started shaking, face nearly hidden behind her legs that were pulled up against her chest. She was frightened, but she kept watching.

Within 5 minutes of the outbreak and when it really started to get gory, Krista squeaked and suddenly launched herself at Ymir. The brunette had not expected it and fell back on the couch in surprise. Krista didn't care about their position or that Ymir was starting to blush. She hid her face against Ymir's neck and whimpered.

"Ymir! It's a zombie movie." Krista whined, peaking at the screen every few seconds to see what was happening, only to cringe and hide against Ymir again.

Ymir lay there dumbfounded, heart racing and palms suddenly sweaty. She felt Krista's trembling and hesitantly wrapped her arms around her. Suddenly the zombie movie idea became much more of a success.

"You hate zombies?" Ymir questioned, grin on her lips even though her mouth felt dry and her body started to burn.

"N-not r-really but I h-hate horror m-m-movies." Krista responded, still shaking like a leaf.

"It's not real." Ymir pointed out.

"I don't care. S-still scary." Krista squeaked when the gory sounds of zombies tearing into living flesh boomed through the living room. Of course Ymir would turn the volume up.

The brunette swallowed her nervousness and folded an arm behind her head. Despite the sudden painful fever, Ymir was really enjoying having Krista lying on her chest and curled under her arm. It felt… right. Even though Ymir knew that this could never go anywhere and she shouldn't even be doing it, she still wanted to enjoy it for as long as she could. They continued to lay like that, Ymir laughing whenever Krista squeaked in fright. It was amusing because the blonde continued to watch even though she was scared.

Krista really hated horror movies, but she was determined to watch it because it was giving her the perfect excuse to lay on Ymir. The brunette smelt so nice. Whenever something extra frightening or gory happened, Krista would mould herself to Ymir and allow her scent to wash over her and calm her fear.

Ymir struggled to watch the movie because all she could focus on was Krista. The small blonde was so warm, which wasn't all that good because Ymir's body temperature was already way too hot, but the brunette didn't mind. When the movie did eventually finish, Ymir switched the TV off, bathing the room in darkness. She would have gotten up and mocked Krista for how many sounds she made during the movie, but she was fast asleep. Krista used Ymir's shoulder as a pillow and breathed evenly, her soft breaths washing over Ymir's throat and making the brunette shiver.

It felt so good, but so wrong. Ymir should have woken her up, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was enjoying it way too much, even though it hurt just the same. What harm could an hour do?

But it was more than just an hour as Ymir spent all of her time watching Krista's relaxed face and running a hand through her hair. Despite how much she tried to supress it, Ymir couldn't help but smile and feel her chest ache and warm. Krista made her feel things she had never felt before. Krista made her actually care about someone other than herself. But Krista also reminded Ymir that she shouldn't even dream of being with the smaller girl. The blonde deserved better.

Against her better judgement, Ymir fell asleep with a hand in Krista's hair, and her free hand intertwined with Krista's. In her sleep, Krista smiled.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The next morning Krista woke with a loud yawn and a long stretch. A glance around told her that she had fallen asleep on the couch, using Ymir as a pillow. Had she fallen asleep on top of her? Krista blushed. If she had, then at last it seemed like Ymir hadn't minded, since she was curled up comfortably underneath Krista's head, still asleep.

Krista got up and wobbled over to her bathroom where she took a shower and then brushed her teeth after. As she brushed she hummed softly to herself. She was in a really good mood, and Krista knew why. Having spent so much quality time with Ymir over the week, Krista had really gotten to know her and she had also realized how deep her feelings for Ymir were. Despite her best efforts not to, Krista had fallen deeper in love.

Ymir was just so charming when she wasn't being a moody, perverted old man. Ymir had a terrible sense of humour, and often played pranks on Krista. She also found many short nicknames for the blonde. But under all that, she did care. Krista could see that Ymir really was a very lonely person. Even knowing this, though, Krista was afraid of her feelings. She loved Ymir so much that she couldn't bear to lose her, even if it meant that she had to suffer a love that could never be. She was determined, however, to get that loneliness out of Ymir by being there for her. No matter what happened, she would be there for the brunette through it all.

After getting dressed and doing her hair, Krista went into the lounge and started breakfast that consisted of bacon, eggs and toast. Extra bacon for Ymir.

In the lounge, Ymir woke to the wonderful scents wafting out of the kitchen. She released a yawn, sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight, and stretched her canine limbs. Ymir then jumped off of the couch and trotted happily into the kitchen.

_Is that food?_

Krista looked down at Ymir and smiled. "Yeah, food. I knew it would wake you."

_It smells amazing! I'm damn hungry. _Ymir whined and swept her tail from side to side.

Krista giggled and refocused on the sizzling pan on the stove. "Don't worry, it's almost done."

_Well hurry it up! I'm not joking about being hungry._ Ymir mentally grumbled in impatience.

"You're always hungry. Just be patient Ymir, a few more minutes won't kill you."

_But I'm hungry…_

Krista just smiled and chose not to respond. When it came to her hunger, Ymir could complain until her face went blue. Eventually Krista plated the food and carried it all to the lounge. She sat down and then placed the plate down on the seat beside her for Ymir. This was their normal routine, when Krista wasn't at school.

Before long Ymir finished her food, not to Krista's surprise. It took longer for Krista to eat because she took her time, and actually chewed.

"Ymir…" Krista spoke up after swallowing.

_Mm?_

"Today is Saturday, so I was thinking that we should continue with the list."

Ymir stiffened slightly. _I guess we… should._

"I mean… I only have one week left of my break. When school starts again, I might be too busy to help…" Krista played with the food on her plate. She didn't want to continue with the investigation. She didn't want to see any more of the people Ymir had been with. But most of all, she didn't want to find the answer to all of this. It was very selfish, and it drowned her in guilt but she was desperate to keep Ymir dependent on her. But her good nature would always win out, and her selfishness would have to remain an inner demon.

_Do you really think we can find who did this?_

"There is always evidence, Ymir. Hints, clues. Life is never clean. I'm sure that if we look in the right places and follow all of the clues, we will find the person who cursed you and we will make you normal again."

Ymir mulled on that for a bit, fighting her own desires to be stubborn and refuse to go. She had promised herself that as soon as she returned to normal she would leave, but that didn't mean she didn't want to stay for as long as possible. Of course, there was no way to make an excuse for that, so Ymir shrugged and rested her chin on her front paws.

_Sounds good. When do you want to go?_

Krista swallowed the last bit of her food, grabbed their plates and stood. "We can leave right now!" she said in false cheerfulness. Thankfully, Ymir never noticed.

_Okay._ Ymir sighed softly and watched the blonde walk slowly into the kitchen.

XxX

Ex number 7: short blonde hair, deep blue eyes, pale and shy. She sat with her head down, a small smile on her lips and a furious blush on her face. Across from her a much taller woman leaned forward on her elbow and reached out to lightly touch the blushing blonde's face. The blonde reacted by blushing even more and widening her eyes. Her black haired companion found that amusing and laughed again, but smiled dreamily and dropped her hand to take the blonde's in hers and intertwine their fingers.

"Awww." Krista cooed softly, blushing herself, and covered her smile by hiding her face behind a menu.

_It's so mushy I think I'm going to puke._

Krista sighed and gave Ymir a kick under the table. "Don't be such a tard! They're adorable."

Ymir growled from where she hid under the table and refrained from biting Krista back. _Yeah, sure. Whatever. _

"I never expected one of your exes to be so… timid."

_Did you think they would all be crazy?_

"Well… yeah… but she seems really happy with her girlfriend."

_Not girlfriend. They're married._

Krista's eyes widened. "Really? How can you tell?"

Ymir sighed and rolled her eyes. _Identical wedding rings. And besides, they've been best friends their whole lives. I could always see that Shane was super in love with Misty._

"But you slept with her anyway?"

Ymir shifted uncomfortably. She wished she could run out from the table she was hiding under. She and Krista had gone in search of ex number 7, Misty. They ended up trailing her all the way to a pizza shop where Misty took a seat with Shane, a tall, dark, and handsome woman that the timid blonde had been in love with all her life. Since dogs weren't allowed, Ymir had to sneak in because she had refused to stay outside. Krista fervently hoped no one would look under the table cloth and find the husky.

_I never slept with her. I tried. I really, really tried. I got her to slightly fall in love with me, but she was always stuck on Shane. When I almost got her naked one night, Shane came in and broke my jaw. I think if Shane could, she would curse me because I tried to take Misty from her._

Krista squinted as she processed that, and then she continued watching the doting couple. It made her heart buzz with warmth as she watched how gentle and caring Shane was, although a bit teasing. Misty responded to her in the most adorable ways. Blushing at something she said or a caress, smiling, giving her love filled, adoration brimmed looks. Krista wished she could be like that with Ymir. Look at Ymir like that. Touch Ymir like that. She sighed.

"Okay, so how will I get to interrogate her? I don't think she's the one though… at least not Misty."

_Get Shane alone._

"How?"

_Just ask her if you can speak to her outside or something. You look harmless so I doubt she'll say no._

Krista sighed deeply and gingerly placed the menu back on the metal table. "Alright, guess I'll give it a try." She stood and made her way over to the couple. They didn't notice her appearance at all, so Krista had to clear her throat to get their attention.

"Hi." Krista said a bit shakily and gave an awkward smile.

"Uh, hi. Can I help you?" Shane replied with a smile. She seemed so… radiant. Krista could definitely see why Misty was so in love with her.

"Oh?" Shane glanced at Misty, who was staring curiously at Krista, though seeming a bit intimidated.

"My name is Krista, and I really need to talk to you. I know you don't know me, but it's urgent." Krista tried her best not to blush in embarrassment. Besides being an absolute hottie, Shane also had very, very strong eyes. And right now they were boring into Krista.

From her place under the table, Ymir narrowed her eyes and growled softly.

"Sure." Shane gave Misty's hand a squeeze and then stood. It was strange that she had accepted Krista's plea so quickly, but when she stood and Krista realized that she was even taller than Ymir, she realized that she was probably fearless and knew that if Krista posed a threat, she could defend herself just fine. Krista couldn't help but widen her eyes when she looked up to meet Shane's smirking face.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to get this over with."

Krista nodded hurriedly and gestured for the tall woman to follow her, and she did. They stepped out of the restaurant and paused right beside the entrance.

"My name is Shane, by the way."

Krista smiled. "I'm sorry to bother you like this, Shane." The blonde glanced into the shop and spied two ears standing at attention. Ymir was probably watching, though sneakily. "B-but you see, I, um…" Krista swallowed. She had already decided on her story when they had taken a seat much earlier. But it made her blush. "I… I'm kind of seeing a person named Ymir…" Krista left the sentence hanging and watched for a reaction. Other than a nod of encouragement to continue and a glint of recognition in her eyes, Shane hardly reacted at all. "And I know about what happened between you and her. I j-just wanted to ask you if you could forgive her." She felt absolutely stupid, asking something like that. They probably hadn't seen each other in years, or knew each other at all. Krista risked sounding like a possessive girlfriend. But she needed to see how Shane would react, if it was in anger or otherwise.

"Forgive?" Shane scratched the back of her neck and shoved her free hand in her pocket. "Yeah, I did beat the crap out of Ymir, but I've never held a grudge against her. She seems like a cool person. She just didn't seem cool when she was all over the person I love." She shifted and smiled down at the blonde. "So I've forgiven her a long time ago. Why find me all this time after, though?"

Krista shifted. Shane was being absolutely sincere, that much Krista could tell. She definitely hadn't cast any spell.

"I just don't want anyone out there holding any grudges against Y-Ymir! I b-believe that it brings bad luck and can destroy a relationship with the n-negative energy."

Shane gave Krista an odd look but grinned and gave her a slap on the back. "You're cute, you know that? Ymir is lucky. I just hope she doesn't treat you like she did Misty. How long have you been with her, by the way?"

Krista's heart started racing and she swallowed. She had hoped that Shane wouldn't ask, and she was also flustered because of the compliment.

"About th-three months…" Krista squeaked out, blushing hard now.

Shane laughed. "You're just like Misty! Blushing for everything. Don't be ashamed though. If you love her, love her with everything you've got. I've heard about her shady past and three months is forever for her, so I think you have her whipped. Well done!" Shane grinned brightly and gave Krista's shoulder a squeeze. "Anyway, glad I could help you feel more at ease! I'm going back to my love now." She offered a wave and then walked back into the restaurant.

As the door slowly trailed closed, Ymir quickly slipped out unnoticed and walked up to a still blushing Krista who was avoiding her gaze and shifting uncomfortably.

_So?_

"It isn't her. We can cross Misty off. How does a movie sound?" Krista laughed nervously and started walking to her car.

_You seem nervous, and you're blushing. What did Shane say? Did she hit on you?_

Krista heard the jealousy in Ymir's voice and paused. Was she really jealous? She turned, about to comment on that, but stopped short.

"If it isn't my star pupil." An arm flung out and wrapped around Krista's shoulder. "How have you been?"

Krista smiled and gave Hanji a hug around the waist. "I've been great, though busy. What are you doing here, Hanji-sensei?"

"Oh I was just going to the bookstore over there when I noticed you standing here. Is that a dog?!" Hanji dropped down to her knees and pulled Ymir against her.

_Krista, get this loon off of me._ Ymir growled as Hanji cooed and made weird noises as she rubbed her face against Ymir's fur and stroked her back. Krista didn't have to intervene though, because Hanji suddenly froze and held Ymir's face in her hands. She examined her closely and looked deeply into her eyes. Both Ymir and Krista began to sweat.

Hanji hummed softly, released Ymir and then stood while dusting herself off. "Krista, I need to ask you something strange…" The bespectacled woman asked in a way too serious tone.

"U-um, yes?"

Hanji glanced down at Ymir and then back at Krista. "Is this really a dog, or is she a human that turns into one?"

Together, Ymir and Krista's eyes widened.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

"W-w-what?" Krista squeaked out. Her heart thundered in her chest and she started to tremble.

Hanji just continued to stare at Krista, eyes narrowed in suspicion and hands on her hips. She occasionally glanced down at Ymir who was feeling quite confused about the situation. Why was Krista freaking out anyway? Hanji couldn't prove it. She had no evidence and no one would believe her. Besides, they could just continuously deny it.

Ymir walked up to Krista and bumped against her leg. _Oi, shorty. Stop freaking. This weirdo can't prove anything. Just deny everything. _

Krista's eyes widened slowly and she very nearly replied to Ymir, but then she snapped her head back to Hanji whose suspicious glare only deepened. Krista swallowed hard. Ymir was right! All she had to do was claim how impossible something like that was and go on her merry way. The blonde was about to open her mouth and do just that.

But then Hanji burst out laughing and nearly fell over with the force. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and bent forward in an attempt to control her laughter, but it wasn't working. Eventually, face red and tear streaked, Hanji straightened and gave Krista a hearty pat on the back.

"The look on your face!" Hanji exclaimed. "Priceless. This is why I follow you around sometimes." She wiped a tear from her eye, laughed a bit more and then sighed in satisfaction. "How could you even fall for that? Anyway, I'm off. That's a pretty dog by the way!" She stepped away and then walked off down the street, laughing all over again.

Krista and Ymir both watched her with flabbergasted expressions and tilted heads.

"Did she just…?"

_I think she did. What the fuck._

Krista shook her head. Relief washed over her and she sighed to show it. "It was only a joke. She was joking."

_I'm guessing only she can make a joke about something that's really happening without knowing it._

Krista shook her head again. "Yeah, she is. Let's go home."

Ymir nodded and they got into the car. The drive back was silent and heavy. Both of them were still mulling over that joke. Krista was still a bit panicked while Ymir was just astounded. When they arrived home they went inside just as silently and parted their ways. Krista went to take a shower to clear her head while Ymir opted for a nap on the blonde's bed.

As she dozed off, Ymir could hear the shower running and allowed that to lull her to sleep.

XxX

"Ymir!" Krista moaned, voice heavy and breathy.

Ymir opened her eyes and they widened. She glanced down at her hand. It was gently cupping one of Krista's breasts, massaging gently and evoking moans from the little blonde who was pressed up against the shower wall. The brunette swallowed hard and noticed her free arm was wrapped around Krista's lower back, pressing them firmly together.

Ymir could feel her warm, wet skin, and her heated breaths on her cheek. She finally looked into Krista's face and swallowed again. Krista's face was flushed, her hair wet and slicked back. In her eyes shone deep lust, but something else. Something that made Ymir's heart pound and ache at the same time. She didn't have time to open her mouth and ask what was going on, or to even wonder that herself. Because Krista's next utterance brought her world crashing down at her feet.

"Ymir, I love you!" Krista wrapped her arms around Ymir's neck and buried her face against her shoulder, head tucked under her chin. Ymir tensed but remained there, unconsciously pulling Krista tighter against her. Water continued to spray out of the shower head and cascade down on them, sliding down their bodies and falling away in the drain. "Do you?"

Ymir stared hard at the wall, mouth pressed into a firm line. She felt like running, but more than that she felt like staying.

"Do you love me Ymir?" Krista asked softly.

Ymir's heart swelled and it was painful. She could feel the blonde's small body tremble in her arms. She was so small, and they fit together so snugly. Ymir squeezed her eyes shut and pressed into Krista, heart beating ecstatically.

She did. She loved her so much. She wanted her and she needed her.

"I shouldn't." Ymir responded softly. "I really shouldn't."

Krista took a deep, shattering breath. "But you already do, don't you?"

Ymir didn't respond.

"Why do you keep yourself from this? Krista won't leave you. She won't hurt or shun you. Unlike everyone else, she stayed by your side in what is probably the most complicated situation of her life."

Ymir suddenly stumbled back and gasped. Krista was no longer in front of her, but instead, it was herself.

"She probably loves you too. More than you could ever love her."

Ymir looked to the side, hating looking at herself. She grit her teeth hard. "There is no way that she loves me."

"If she didn't then why would she let you stay here for so long?"

"She's naïve! She's too kind and way too damn compassionate. She would have done it for anyone else."

"Maybe in the beginning, yeah. But after seeing your sorry ass for what it really is, she let you stay. She _wants_ you to stay."

Ymir laughed and turned to her other self with an angry smirk. "Fuck off, me. Like always I'm just talking bullshit."

"I am simply the manifestation of your inner struggle. I represent what you already know but what you are too afraid to believe." The other Ymir stepped forward and shoved Ymir against the wall, hands wrapped around her neck. "Maybe you are right and maybe you don't deserve her. But no one else does. If she loves you, then take that and hold on to it until you die."

Ymir's face contorted in pain. "I can't! I want to but I can't!"

"You can and you know it!"

Ymir thrashed against her own body pressing her down and yelled. "Leave me alone!"

XxX

"Ymir? Ymir?!" Krista shook Ymir's shoulder in panic and breathed a sigh of relief when the husky opened her eyes and looked around the room in confusion.

_Krista?_

Ymir looked up at the blonde leaning over her and would have blushed if she could. Krista was still wet, dripping everywhere, and wrapped in nothing but a towel. Her face was covered in concern and panic.

"What happened? I was in the shower and you started yelping. I thought someone was hurting you or something."

Ymir forced herself to mentally chuckle. _I was chasing a car or something in my dream. Don't worry, I'm fine._

Krista was unconvinced. The amount of pain she heard in Ymir's cries would forever be ingrained in her heart. The organ felt heavy and her chest felt tight.

"Okay." Krista pulled Ymir against her for a tight hug. She cradled the brunette's head under her chin and fought her own tears back. "No matter what Ymir, if you need someone to talk to I will listen. Even if it's just about you chasing cars. Will you promise me that you will talk to me if you need it?"

Ymir sighed softly. She ignored the undeniable warmth and softness of the blonde's skin and the clean and sweet scent washing around her. Ymir loved the way Krista smelt, and thanks to her heightened sense of smell, she was acutely aware of Krista's scent. Even in human form, she could catch that scent anywhere.

"Okay." Ymir said softly. "I promise."

XxX

The next day the two decided to search for ex number 8. Ymir directed Krista and they drove there by car, but it seemed she wasn't there. Ymir was confused, since it had only been a year and three months since she had seen her.

They searched around a bit more, checked in at places Ymir thought she could be, but they couldn't find her. When they returned home Ymir was in an irritated mood and Krista was trying her best to cheer her up.

"I'm sure we can find her tomorrow! It's no big deal." Krista offered.

Ymir just grumbled and slouched as she walked into the lounge and settled on the couch. She curled into a ball on the seat and settled her chin against her front paws. She wasn't irritated that they couldn't find ex number 8. In fact, she was glad, because it meant they would be together longer with the extended search. What Ymir was irritated at was herself. As much as she tried, she couldn't stop staring at Krista.

She couldn't stop imagining taking the blonde in her arms and kissing her until her toes curled. When she realized where her thoughts were going Ymir remembered her dream and her mood soured. She shouldn't even allow herself to fantasize the way she did, but it was all she had.

Krista entered the lounge and sat down beside Ymir on the couch. In her hand was a stack of letters she had retrieved from the post office on their way back. She hadn't checked her post in a while because of her distractions.

"Trash, trash, trash," Krista sifted through the envelopes and tossed the unwanted ones to the side. "Trash, trash, oh!" She dropped all other letters and gripped onto one.

Her face brightened and she excitedly though gently opened the flap and slipped a folded though slightly creased A4 paper out. She unfolded it and started reading what it said. As she read, her smile grew.

Ymir eyed her with an internal frown. That looked like a friendly letter. Who was it from and why was it making her so happy?

Trying her luck, Ymir scooted closer and sat up. She acted indifferent and mocked a stretch, but glanced over at the note in Krista's hand. She only glimpsed a few words before Krista refolded the paper and put it back into the envelope. She sighed happily and then stood up.

"So, are you hungry?" Krista asked with a sickeningly sweet smile. That smile would have made Ymir's heart pound, but now it made it sink.

_Yeah._

Krista spun around and went into the kitchen to make something for them to eat. Watching her back, Ymir stared hotly and thought about the bit she had seen in the note.

'Krista!... Soon… home… miss you… - Reiner.'

If only she had seen a bit more, because the vagueness of the few words she had seen made Ymir's stomach tighten and churn. She felt sick and angry and jealous all at the same time.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Over the last week of Krista's break Ymir struggled to forget about that letter from Reiner, and how happy it had seemed to make Krista. She found herself watching the blonde more than she should have, and touched her more often, both in dog and human form, though more so when she had hands.

The jealousy seemed to just build until it consumed her, and Ymir didn't know what to do. She repeatedly reminded herself that she had made a decision, and one that she vowed to stick by. Krista was not a toy, and she would not play with her. But the intense longing she felt, especially now that Ymir feared the blonde's heart was already taken, had reached a point of alarm.

Ymir's hot flushes became worse, but she made sure to hide the severity from Krista so as not to worry her. She very much enjoyed Krista wiping her down with a cloth, though, so she did not pretend that she was fine.

It was a constant inner struggle with Ymir as her heart and mind went to battle.

Krista had allowed Ymir to kiss her before, so why wouldn't she now? But if she was taken… but that didn't matter! Why was the most selfish person struggling to be selfish?

Ymir sighed deeply and pressed her fist to the slick shower wall. She was currently taking a cool shower. It was just after midnight and the blonde was still asleep. Ymir had gone into the room to wake her, but Krista had looked so damn adorable. Plus she was only wearing panties and a shirt, and had at some point kicked the blanket to the side. Ymir had nearly died from a massive nosebleed, and ran for the bathroom before her animalistic desires took control and she woke Krista by ravishing her.

Ymir was tired of fighting it, though. It was tiring her. She was mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. If she could leave, she would have. But they hadn't found anything on the last two exes, and there were no new leads on who had cast this stupid dog curse on her.

Ex number 9, a college student named Leah, had been completely innocent. She spoke cheerfully to Krista and even mentioned a few positive things about Ymir and excused her faults. It was the same with the last woman on the list, Andrea. Though she was very reluctant to talk about Ymir and cringed at the very mention of her name. She was polite to Krista and offered to send out positive thoughts in her search for Ymir.

When was it going to stop?

Ymir wanted her old life back. She wanted to return to the job she hated, to the empty house that she seldom slept in, the countless flings and loveless sex. She wanted to return to being alone, to depending on and needing no one. But she couldn't, not right now. Going back to her house would be pointless if she couldn't do any damn thing for herself while she was on four legs. She hated and loved how she needed Krista. But she was tired of all of the foreign and scary emotions. She wanted to return to the safe distance she kept from life.

"Ymir?" Krista suddenly called sleepily from the other side of the closed bathroom door.

Ymir jerked out of her turbulent thoughts and shook her head. "Yeah?" She called back.

"Are you feeling okay? Is your fever going again?"

Ymir sighed deeply but allowed a small smile. Krista sounded so cute when she was still half asleep, and Ymir could just imagine how she was leaning against the wall for support, yawning and blinking to stay awake.

"I'm okay. Don't worry. Why don't you go back to sleep?" Ymir called back.

There was silence for a moment, and then Krista yawned loudly enough for Ymir to hear. "No, I'm not tired," she lied, "I'll make dinner for you. Don't be too long."

With her enhanced hearing, even in human form, Ymir heard the blonde's soft footsteps lead out of the room and fade down the passage. She sighed.

Ymir shut the shower off, stepped out and then shook her hair much like a dog would. Droplets of water sprayed everywhere and dripped from her tall, lean form. With a long breath Ymir wrapped a towel around her hair and tousled it dry. She then put clothes on and made her way to the kitchen. Once there she completely froze by the door and glanced back where she had come, a hand over her nose.

"Ymir?" Krista glanced back over her shoulder and scrunched her eyebrows together in concern. "What's wrong?"

Still not looking, Ymir gripped the doorframe for support. "Krista, put some pants on." She said stiffly. "I can see your ass."

Krista glanced down at herself in puzzlement, gasped and then pulled her t-shirt down to cover her underwear. "S-sorry. I forgot." She quickly scurried out of the kitchen with a massive blush on her face. While she hurried back to her room, Ymir took a peek and then groaned in regret. Krista had a really cute ass, and now Ymir really needed another cold shower.

When she returned Krista had one of her favourite pink bunny pyjama pants on over the panties, but the blush on her face remained. She went back over to the stove and plated the two steaks she had fried for Ymir. When she placed them on the kitchen table in front of her, the brunette couldn't help but grin saucily at her, despite her own slight blush and awful fever.

"Hearts, huh?"

Krista looked down and her bottom lip poked out. "Shut up…"

"Not my fault you forgot you were in your underwear." Ymir leaned her chin on her hand and grinned even more. She just couldn't resist teasing Krista. The way she reacted was too adorable.

"I-I was tired, okay!"

"Are you sure you just didn't want to give me a flash?" Ymir wiggled her eyebrows, and ignored the spike in her own pulse. If only…

"N-no! You jerk. Eat your steak or I'll take it away and you'll starve."

Ymir laughed. "You wouldn't! You care about me too much."

Krista shuffled on her feet and mumbled something under her breath. "Fine!" She said louder. "But really, stop being a jerk and eat." She tried to sound upset, but Krista couldn't help but smile. When Ymir saw that smile, her heart swelled and warmed. Just looking at that radiant smile made Ymir fall in love all over again.

Damnit.

Ymir chuckled but decided to obey and started on the steak. She had even forgotten about her painful hunger during the teasing. Krista just shook her head and smiled.

"Don't forget to wash that plate when you're done." Krista said sternly.

"Yeah, mom." Ymir replied with an eye roll.

Krista sighed in mock exasperation and headed out of the kitchen.

"Where you going?" Ymir called after her.

"Just going to do some school work." Krista replied from the lounge.

Ymir glanced down at her partially eaten food, contemplating, and then wolfed it all down. A second later she grumbled about stupid rules as she scrubbed the plate clean, and then she ran into the lounge.

"That was quick." Krista commented after glancing up at the sound of Ymir approaching.

The brunette shrugged. "Meh. You know how hungry I get. So, what is this crap about school work?"

Krista smiled as she turned back to the notes in her hands and adjusted the classes sitting on the bridge of her nose. "Well, I start class tomorrow so I thought I would go through some of the previous work we did."

"Why would anyone want to do that?" Ymir plopped down on the couch beside her and gave the smaller of the two a raised eyebrow.

"Because of someone," Krista leaned to the side and playfully bumped shoulders with Ymir, "I haven't gone over my work at all this break. I normally do."

Ymir rolled her eyes. "You're damn smart already and you still need to learn?"

Krista blushed. "I'm not smart. I just try my best to remember and understand the work."

"Sounds smart to me." Ymir sounded more sincere than she had intended, and it made Krista glance at her in surprise. They locked eyes for a long moment, the air heavy and tense. Ymir swallowed hard and completely lost herself in the blue depths of Krista's eyes that were hidden behind the glasses. Subconsciously they both began to lean closer towards each other, breathing hard and hearts pounding. Krista blinked and then sat up straight again. She cleared her throat and shuffled the papers sitting on her lap to mask her shaking hands.

"So, uh. How was your shower?"

Ymir ran a hand through her hair and swallowed. Her throat was damn dry. "It was fine." _But empty without you in there with me,_ she was tempted to add, but didn't.

"Good, that's good." Krista responded nervously and tried in vain to return to studying her notes.

Ymir began another inner battle. Her heart pounded hard and her whole body hummed. She felt a physical pull towards the blonde, but resisted it. With all of her might she resisted it. But the pull was so strong.

The brunette snuck a glance at Krista and studied her beautiful, flushed face. She had her hair tied up in a ponytail, allowing a sexy view of her creamy neck. Her t-shirt fell snugly over the slope of her full, heaving breasts. Her lips, pink and parted, looked so tempting that Ymir found herself leaning in again.

As if sensing the danger of sitting there for another second, Krista stood up suddenly and hugged her stack of notes to her chest. She looked down at the floor because she was scared of looking into Ymir's sexy, haughty eyes.

"I, uh… I'm going back to bed." She announced with a tremble in her voice.

Ymir stood too but kept quiet, not sure if she should say anything or just nod. She didn't have to worry about how to respond any further, because when Krista made a move to leave, she suddenly tripped on her own feet.

In an instant Ymir dashed forward and caught her. Papers fluttered around and drifted to the floor around them, and Krista blushed as she stared up into Ymir's equally red and shocked face. They were so close. So very close. Ymir shouldn't. She should resist it with everything she had.

But she tightened her arms around Krista's lower back, pressing them harder together. But she released a long, hot breath that washed over Krista's cheek and made the blonde's heart flutter.

And she finally gave in.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Slowly, almost hesitantly, the descending papers drifted to the ground and, with a gentle break of the silence, slid across the floor and halted. The silence continued, almost painfully, but the soft scrape of paper to the floor still rang loudly in Krista's ears. Among that she could barely hear anything other than her own, and Ymir's heartbeat. Blood pumped excitedly through her veins, spreading adrenalin through her body and making it burn. The blonde swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes shut.

Ymir was kissing her. The brunette had given her a pained expression for a fraction of a second, and then she had leaned down and captured Krista's lips with her own. At first Krista was too stunned to react and when she did realize what was happening, she started to panic. They couldn't, they really couldn't go down that path. She flattened her hands against Ymir's heaving chest and attempted to shove her back, but Ymir didn't feel the pressure at all. Krista then started pushing harder, in a panic and in a haze as the taste and feel of Ymir's lips registered in her clouded mind, clouding it over further, and the brunette's warmth and scent washed over her.

Eventually, after countless attempts to push Ymir off, the brunette noticed the attempt and slowly pulled away. Her face was flushed and red, her lips even redder, and she had a look of hunger, regret and panic in her eyes. The moment their lips had parted and Krista no longer felt that achingly sweet pressure, she whimpered and pulled Ymir's face back down to her own.

Ymir uttered a cry of surprise, and then a moan. She was trying to stop it too. To get herself to stop and take a cold shower, or to push the blonde away like Krista had done. But she couldn't. With every heated brush of lips Ymir felt her worry and denial melt away. It left nothing more than desire, passion and love.

When Krista wrapped her arms around Ymir's neck and whimpered softly against her lips, the last ounce of resistance completely fell away and Ymir lifted the smaller woman in her arms. She continued to ravish her sweet lips with a deep, hot kiss. Their bodies were pressed together deliciously and when Ymir started walking, Krista barely noticed. She ran her hand through Ymir's hair and kept it there, brown locks intertwined with her small fingers. She used her other hand to grip the back of Ymir's neck and push their lips harder together.

Like a timer gone off, their emotions exploded. Weeks upon weeks of resisting melted away and the two could only feel the other.

Ymir made her way out of the lounge and into the passage on sure feet, though her legs shook. She knew the layout of the house so intricately, because of the many days she had spent living here and scouting the place out, that she could follow the map in her mind and safely manoeuvre them out of the lounge without even a danger of bumping into anything. The fact that she had something precious and fragile in her arms – Krista – was another reason for Ymir to pay extra attention to her instincts.

With far too enhanced senses, Ymir listened carefully to the echo of her footsteps as she entered the passage and started to Krista's room.

However, Krista suddenly bit down on her bottom lip, and Ymir faltered. She quickly pressed Krista to the wall to prevent dropping her or falling over, and growled hungrily, inhumanly, into the blonde's mouth. Krista moaned in response.

Krista couldn't even remember why she had been trying to stop this from ever happening. Every atom of her body hummed and tingled, especially where her skin met with Ymir's. The taste of her lips made Krista high. She felt dizzy and her mind was clouded. The emotions pulsing in her body were too intense to bear, but they all felt so wonderful. Her body burned, and it burned so bad, but so good. She burned for Ymir, and suddenly the urge hit her and she started pulling at Ymir's clothes.

Ymir growled again and bared her sharp, canine teeth as she moved her lips down and started roughly kissing along Krista's throat. The urge to bite was great, but Ymir didn't act on it – yet. She felt the tug on her shirt and immediately understood the blonde's intentions. With a swift swipe Ymir tore the shirt off of her own body and let it drop to the floor. Krista's legs that had wrapped around her waist the moment Ymir had lifted her, tightened and the muscles tensed. She quickly made work of removing her own shirt and eventually succeeded, though it was difficult with the way Ymir was kissing and sucking along her shoulder, neck and jaw.

When the shirt came off and Krista's chest was exposed, Ymir pressed them firmly together and growled into Krista's ear while the blonde moaned and let her head fall back. There was more skin exposed and Ymir took advantage of that. With each new brush of Ymir's lips or tongue on Krista's burning skin, the blonde panted and moaned. Tears collected at her eyes because of the force of her emotions.

Now frustrated at their position, Ymir pushed off from the wall and protectively held Krista to her chest as she initiated another deep kiss and walked them into the blonde's room. They made it to the bed and Ymir climbed on top and placed Krista down without breaking the kiss.

Krista squirmed underneath Ymir's long, warm body and breathed erratically through her nose. Her pale, naked chest heaved with every laboured breath and each gasp.

After a near eternity of toe curling kisses, Ymir ran her tongue along Krista's lower lip, asking for permission. Without knowing what else to do, Krista allowed her in and moaned deeply when Ymir's tongue slipped into her mouth and glided along her own. She quivered and squeezed her shaking legs together to cool the fiery heat between them.

Krista was very conscious of the intense heat rolling off of Ymir and felt the dampness on her skin. She wondered if there would possibly be any steam coming off of Ymir's body. But her own heat seemed to rival even Ymir's, and it wasn't because they were pressed together. The heat was boiling and expanding from her very core and made her skin hot and flushed. Krista wondered if this is what Ymir felt each time she had a fever, and thought that it probably was.

How could anyone handle it? The heat in her body created an ardour that she didn't know how to control. All that Krista could consciously understand was that if she touched Ymir, if she gave in and brushed their lips together, moved against her body, the heat would be sated. Something inside of her told her that if she didn't let Ymir take her now, she wouldn't be able to survive nor would she cool down.

Now completely desperate, Krista clawed at Ymir's back, which caused the brunette to arch into her and hiss which in turn made Krista cry out.

Ymir felt just as desperate and opened her eyes to gaze down into Krista's intense blues. She looked into her eyes long and hard, seeing a familiar fire in blue that she often saw in her own brown. Without needing another prompt Ymir used one leg to slightly spread Krista's, and then pressed her thigh against the blonde's centre.

Krista cried out in surprise and her already frighteningly fast pulse raced even faster.

Ymir searched for both of Krista's hands, intertwined their fingers when she found them, and rested them to each side of Krista's head as she took a shattering breath and moved against Krista. When the blonde moaned hotly in response, Ymir's body burned even more.

Before going any further Ymir tore her boxers off with her own hands and did the same with Krista's pants and underwear. The shredded clothes fell to the floor in dejection, ignored. But Krista received undivided attention as Ymir repositioned her leg, pressed into her and breathed heavily against her ear.

Despite it being her first time Krista wasn't nervous. She was shaking, but from the arousal and not from the nerves. Ymir was much the same and could only register the intense need to make Krista hers.

Slowly, deliciously, Ymir started moving against Krista. Skin sliding against wet skin. Krista moaned and moved against Ymir as the brunette set a rhythm and concentrated all of her focus on that. The louder Krista's moans of passion became, the deeper Ymir's desire to sink her teeth into her grew.

When Krista started clawing at her lower back, pushing Ymir's thigh harder against her, Ymir released a deep chested moan and parted her lips. A long, foggy breath escaped into the air and she opened her mouth to reveal long, sharp fangs. Without breaking the rhythm of her thrusting hips, Ymir bent down and bit down between Krista's shoulder and neck.

Krista's eyes shot open in surprise and she slammed her head back against the pillow while she arched off of the bed and into Ymir. She felt each of the brunette's defined muscles against her stomach due to how pressed up against each other they were. A shot of pain mingled in with pleasure sailed through Krista's body and collected at her core. She throbbed hotly and groaned. For some reason, the feel of Ymir's sharp teeth sunken into her shoulder felt so damn good.

Ymir growled predatorily and released Krista's hand to trail her own one down her side and pull her leg up, making Krista wrap it around her lower back.

Slight drops of blood escaped past Ymir's teeth and touched her tongue. The strong metallic tang made Ymir falter for a second, and then growl again. She tightened her hold on Krista's creamy thigh and ran her tongue over the flesh pressed to her lips. Her teeth had sunk in like they were sinking into butter, and Ymir couldn't understand why she felt a need to do it, or why it felt so amazing to do so. She cared even less about the reason, and simply followed her instincts.

An electric sensation started in both of them. For Krista, at the point where Ymir was connected to her at her shoulder, and for Ymir it started at her teeth. It spread out from the point of entry and covered the entire length of their bodies. This time Ymir squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered like a puppy. Her movements slowed and grew gentle, but did not stop. She felt Krista whimper beneath her and then run her hands through her hair.

For some reason Ymir could not release the bite. Just the thought made her inwardly cringe, so she kept her mouth very still so as not to wound Krista any deeper, and focused on moving with Krista and bringing them both oh so close.

Krista's small, trembling hands tangled with Ymir's damp hair and she pressed their cheeks together since she couldn't get a kiss. Her chest swelled and felt near to bursting, and as Ymir, this big, rude but charming person, her person, made love to her, she felt the end close in and curled her toes. She arched into Ymir, shut her eyes and screamed as she came.

Ymir tensed and remained absolutely still. Her own orgasm overtook her, and it was nothing she had ever felt before. It happened at the precise moment of Krista's, and Ymir almost felt like they were sharing the moment. Her jaw started to ache because of the intense care she took not to move her teeth, but then they both relaxed down and Ymir's ability to move returned. It felt safe to remove her teeth and she did so slowly, sliding her sparsely bloody fangs from the angel's wings.

A twin pair of thin lines of blood poured out and highlighted pale skin, but Ymir quickly caught the scarlet liquid with her tongue and gave the four small puncture wounds a gentle lick, making Krista gasp. She kept her weight on her elbows and lifted her head to stare down at Krista. The blonde smiled up at her, so shatteringly open and beautiful.

Ymir's heart swelled and her dramatically cooler temperate spiked slightly. She couldn't stop herself and started a long, slow kiss. It was gentle, though a bit blood laced, but the taste of her own blood made Krista heat up instead of turned off. She shivered violently as a big, gentle hand covered her breast, and the other soon followed with her second breast. A whole new fire ignited, and Krista panted and shivered as Ymir worked her body once more and slowly, teasingly but always gently, slid down her body.

When Krista looked down she met Ymir's eyes and felt her throat constrict. Bright, burning and glowing golden eyes not belonging on any human stared back. On any occasion it would have frightened her, but they were Ymir's eyes, and they were beautiful anyway. Especially with the intense lust Krista saw in them that were directed only at her. For now, only at her.

With a gentle growl Ymir ran her teeth along Krista's thigh, sharp teeth points caressing soft, trembling flesh. And with a heartbeat, Ymir gave in again.


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Note: Guys, invite me on Facebook. I post a lot about Bad Dog on there and sometimes I give a sneak peak into the next chapter. If you'd like to talk to me there about Bad Dog or other stories, feel free to invite me ^^ it's easier than on here. My Facebook name is on my profile page. (Yeah, I'm totally advertising myself XD)

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Chapter 18:

Krista breathed evenly, but she was not asleep. It was just after they had both collapsed in exhaustion and the blonde had her cheek pressed to Ymir's warm shoulder. Warm, but not hot. Ymir didn't have a fever, and now she felt normal. Ymir slept soundly, snoring softly and grumbling in her sleep. Her chest rose and fell with each breath, slightly lifting Krista each time.

She couldn't sleep. Her eyes felt heavy, her shoulder ached and her body felt numb, but she couldn't fall asleep. Images of what had happened not even an hour ago kept replaying in her mind. Gentle and rough touches, whispers, growls and moans. The feel of Ymir touching her like no one ever had, of claiming her and making her scream in bliss. Every sensation and every emotion continued to flit through her mind, refusing to let her mental state rest enough to shut down.

It was the fear. The choking, consuming fear that gripped Krista's heart despite the blissful memories replaying in her head. Ymir was there now, but would she be when Krista woke?

The blonde tightened her hold on Ymir's waist and buried her face against her neck, attempting to keep her tears at bay. But her chest burnt and ached and her stomach churned painfully. Ymir was probably going to leave, but a large part of Krista's heart held the hope that the brunette would leave her stubbornness behind and just admit her feelings, if she felt anything.

What they had shared, that wasn't just sex, or a one night stand. Krista could feel in every fibre of her being that what had happened was something so permanent that it would follow them even after death. Whether Ymir admitted it or not, that meant everything to them both.

But there was still that nagging fear, that niggling insecurity that it was all just in Krista's head and a result of her own hopes and desires. Ymir could very well have just been using her body, and would act like nothing had changed when morning came. Krista hoped it would not be so, but her gut tightened painfully and that told her that the road ahead was not going to be a smooth one.

With one hand curled under her chin, she released Ymir's hip with her other hand and searched for the brunette's much larger hand. She found it, intertwined their fingers and pulled it up to under her chin where she wrapped her other hand around Ymir's too. Krista curled as tightly against Ymir's side as she could and felt her heart flutter when, unconsciously, Ymir pulled her closer with the arm she had wrapped around the blonde.

"Please don't leave me." Krista whispered softly and shifted slightly to kiss the side of Ymir's jaw. "I can't go back to not being with you… I can't pretend that you're not the reason for my smile now." A single tear escaped and puddled on Ymir's skin. Krista sniffed and released a hand to quickly wipe it away. Her shoulder reminded her of the bite wounds by burning slightly, though it wasn't an unpleasant burn.

Krista made a mental note to wash the wounds and wipe them with disinfectant and then bandage them when she woke. For now she was too tired to get out of bed, and finally she was able to shut her heavy lidded eyes, even her breathing and fall asleep.

Not much more than an hour later Ymir's eyes snapped open and she stared up at the ceiling, heart racing. It took a long moment for her drowsy mind to clear enough for her to feel a pleasant weight on her body, and when she looked down her throat constricted and her heart skipped a beat.

In a giant tidal wave of shock, all the memories and the knowledge of what had happened crashed down on Ymir. She carefully though hurriedly extracted Krista from her and quickly sat up at the edge of the bed. Feet on the cold floor, face in her hands, Ymir began to hyperventilate and grit her teeth hard.

"Fuck, fuck. Fuck!" Her heart continued to race even when she attempted to calm her breathing. "Shit!"

"Ymir…." Behind her Krista blindly felt around for the missing warmth of a body and groaned in her sleep. Ymir watched her from over her shoulder and groaned in horror.

"I did it. I fucking did it. Shit." She rubbed a hand over her face and intensely resisted the urge to punch herself. After all this time of resisting with all of her will, she gave in like that. She did something that she was never allowed to do. Something she should never have even wanted. Ymir continued to watch Krista sleep and managed a fond smile through her upset. Just looking at Krista made her nearly accept what had happened and climb back into bed. But she couldn't.

Krista turned onto her stomach, pushing the blanket off of her. Ymir caught sight of the puncture wounds at the top of her shoulder and exhaled sharply through her nose.

"Jesus, I bit her that bad? What the fuck is wrong with me?" She stood and started pacing, for once unaware of her nudity. She continuously ran a hand through her hair as her mind raced on how to fix this fuck up she had made.

From the bed Krista groaned softly, this time in pain. Ymir sighed to herself and went over to the blonde to see if she was awake. She wasn't, but her shoulder was bleeding. Anger and guilt washed over Ymir and she gently reached out to turn Krista onto her side so that she could observe how bad the wounds were. Nothing seemed to be infected and there were no rips, only four deep punctures.

Ymir gently picked Krista up, deciding to do it the hard way, and carried the blonde into the bathroom. Upon contact Krista immediately curled up against Ymir's chest and sighed in content. This made Ymir frown deeply.

She placed the blonde on the bathroom counter and turned the tap on to get the water warm. With her long body she was able to stretch to the cabinet and retrieve the first aid kit and a cloth. She first gently wiped the wounds with the warm cloth and then did it a second time with disinfectant. After that was done she chucked the cloth into the sunk, put the tap off and grabbed a bandage.

The whole while she kept an arm around Krista's back to support her and keep her from falling over. The blonde had at some point just slumped forward and rested her head against Ymir's shoulder, still asleep even as Ymir wrapped her wounds and put the kit back.

Ymir gently lifted her again and carried her back to the bed. She placed her down and covered her with the blanket. Krista turned onto her side but mumbled Ymir's name, making the brunette pause and glance down at her.

Ymir stared at her for a long and hard moment, and then she leaned down and placed a firm kiss against Krista's warm temple. She brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear and sighed down at Krista's peaceful expression. "I'm sorry, Krista. Please forgive me."

She stood and went over to the cupboard to put some clothes on. Since she was still in human form way past the time she normally turned, Ymir felt confident that she wouldn't turn again anytime soon.

Once clothed and decent, Ymir spared one more pained glance at Krista and then trudged out of the room. A moment later the front door opened and closed softly after.

XxX

At 6 a.m. Krista's alarm woke her from a deep and blissful sleep. Grumpily she sat up and slapped the alarm off, hair tousled and blanket pooled at her waist. At first she was confused and disorientated, but then a sharp pain in her shoulder made her gasp and grab at the area. Her fingers touched bandage and Krista saw that somehow she had been tended to. It must have been Ymir.

The memories slowly came back and warmed Krista's body as well as her heart, though the fear settled in again and she glanced around the room for a missing tall brunette. When she didn't find her Krista pulled on some clothes and searched the house in a panic. Ymir wasn't in any room of the house, nor the back or front yard. Where could she have been?

In her panic to find her love, Krista forgot that she was supposed to be getting ready for school since it was a Monday and the start of a new term. While she searched the house for a second time, tears streaming down her face and heart thumping painfully, Krista's shoulder began to ache again.

The pain was enough to make her cry out and slump against the passage wall, where she slid down into a heap on the floor and began to sob. Ymir had left. Krista's fear had come true, and after having sex with her, Ymir had left. Why had she been stupid enough to let the kisses go on? To even let Ymir bite her? Why had she even bitten her in the first place?

Thinking about it made it hurt worse and Krista cried out again and grabbed at her shoulder. Her chest heaved with fast, uneven breaths and sweat trickled down the side of her face. Was her temperature picking up?

"Hey, what's wrong?" A familiar husky voice broke Krista's turmoil and made her snap her head up. Looking down at her with concern were the most beautiful brown eyes Krista had ever seen.

"Ymir!" Krista wailed and flung herself forward, colliding with the crouching Ymir and sending them both falling backwards.

"Jesus!" Ymir braced for impact and took most of the fall. She quickly sat up and pushed Krista off of her with a glare. "Are you throwing yourself at me now? What the hell was that?" She dusted her jacket off and attempted to fix her hair.

Krista sniffled and wiped the wetness from her face. "W-where did you go? I thought you left."

Ymir paused and stared at the floor. "I went to my house."

"Y-your house?" Krista's stomach dropped.

Ymir nodded. "Mm. For some reason I'm still human so I decided to take a walk home and see if my house is still in one piece. I have a crapload of mail and bills but everything is still there. Why do you look like you were crying?" Ymir stood and dusted her pants off.

Krista swallowed and curled her hands together in her lap. "No reason… I had a bad dream…" She said softly. There was a terrible feeling in her stomach, and Krista was feeling herself slowly falling apart. "Are you going to leave?"

"Leave? I can't yet. If I turn back into a dog I'll be stuck alone in my house, unable to do anything for my own damn self."

Krista bit her lip. _Yet_. So last night really had meant nothing to Ymir if she was still planning on leaving the moment she could. On shaky legs Krista stood up and made her way into the lounge to collect her school books. She was late, but she still had school.

"Yeah, we still need to find out who cursed you." Krista said in a teary voice, holding her tears back with all her might.

"Does your shoulder hurt?" Ymir asked suddenly from directly behind Krista. The blonde stiffened.

"It was earlier, a lot. But it's okay now." Ymir didn't respond. "Ymir… you bit me."

Ymir sighed. "I did."

"Why?" Krista turned around and looked up at Ymir through teary, determined eyes.

"I don't know. But don't worry, I won't ever do it again." Ymir shrugged and went over to the couch. She plopped down, turned the TV on and shifted through the channels with an empty expression.

Meanwhile, Krista's entire body was shaking. Her chest burnt so bad that she could barely breathe. She was almost certain that last night had been a mistake, despite how amazing it had been and that it was her first time, and she had shared it with Ymir. There was still a tiny sliver of hope, so with the last remains of her strength Krista seated herself beside Ymir and prepared her courage.

"Y-Ymir?"

"Mm?" Ymir continued to study the TV, not really looking at anything but not looking at Krista.

"About last night…"

"It was fun. Thanks." Ymir said curtly and offered a grin.

Krista felt her heart sink further, but pressed on. "Fun? I thought it was… m-more meaningful than that."

"Meaningful?" Ymir finally turned her head and gave Krista an amused expression. "I wouldn't call fucking meaningful."

Krista puffed up with anger. "It wasn't fucking!"

Ymir's eyes widened. "What do you mean it wasn't? Did you…. Oh… Oh!" Ymir laughed nastily. "Were you under the impression that we were making love?" She used the remote to scratch the back of her neck and gave Krista a raised eyebrow. "That was not making love, Krista. We fucked, and that's it. We'll never fuck again."

"It wasn't and you know it! You can deny it all you want but that was just as amazing to you and I know it meant as much to you! We did make love!"

Ymir dropped the remote and leaned over to press her nose to Krista's. "I don't make love, I fuck. You know that. Get this silly idea out of your head. Because that's all it is: a silly idea in your head."

"It isn't!" Krista stood her ground, but she was trembling.

Ymir stood and rolled her eyes. "You are making things up. Don't tell me what I feel just because you want something to be true." She started for the passage but Krista stopped her.

"Stop denying it! You know it's true Ymir! Why are you doing this?"

Ymir spun around and faced Krista fearlessly. "Are you fucking deaf? We didn't make love because I didn't want to. All I wanted was to fuck you! We were only two horny people who had sex, nothing special about it. If you think you're special now because you got into my pants, then you're dumber than I thought." Krista merely stared up at her in shock, so she continued. "Why would I even want to be with someone weak and stupid like you? You let a fucking freak stranger into your house! You can't get dumber than that! I've slept with many women who are a lot more woman than you, so I can do way better. Stop deluding yourself, little girl. Life isn't some magical fairy-tale. The moment I have this fucking curse lifted, I'm leaving and you'll never see me again!"

Krista swallowed hard, but the lump in her throat remained. She quietly grabbed onto her shoulder and turned to retrieve her bag. "Okay." She said softly, brokenly, and gave Ymir one last shatteringly sad smile, tears pouring down her cheeks, before she tuned and headed for the door. "I'm sorry for annoying you. I won't mention it again." She gave a weak wave and left through the front door.

Ymir watched her go with a stoic frown, but the moment Krista closed the door and the sound of her car receded, Ymir clutched at her chest and fell to her knees.

She said nothing and merely choked on her tears as her heart broke and her soul bled.

_I'm so sorry Krista, please forgive me. One day, please forgive me._


	19. Chapter 19

Author's Note: As some of you had noticed, this chapter had been taken down. It was really horrible and rushed, and it really troubled me. So after talking to my wonderful Turbotail88 about it, she gave me a few ideas and the motivation to redo the chapter and make it way better. So guys, thank her. Here is a whole new chapter 19, and I hope you enjoy it ^^

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Chapter 19:

Krista pressed her forehead to the closed front door and bit back a sob. Tears continued to stream down her face and her shoulders shook, but she didn't utter a sound. If she did, then the tiny shred of control she had would disintegrate and she would crumble to the ground in a crying mess. Krista couldn't afford that, at least not there. She didn't want Ymir to see her like that; so weak, so broken.

After a long while of quietly crying with her head and hands pressed to the door, Krista straightened and wiped a hand over her red and puffy eyes. She still needed to get to school and she couldn't just stand there and cry for the entire morning. She was already quite late. Krista pushed off from the door and descended the porch steps, bag slung over her shoulder. Once in the car she took a quick look in the mirror and sighed in anguish.

She hadn't had time to properly neaten herself before Ymir basically set her heart on fire. Her hair was still messy, so she quickly ran a brush that she kept in the glove compartment through it, added some powder to her face to get rid of the awful paleness and the red streaks from the tears, and then she started the car and reversed out of the driveway.

The drive was silently painful with an occasional sniff from Krista. She didn't want to go to class or face the world. With the state of her broken heart, she just wanted to climb into bed and sleep until her chest didn't burn.

And thinking about burning, her shoulder was aching. It had hurt earlier but now it was throbbing with heat as well as pain. It was enough to completely discomfort her, but not quite enough for her to think of seeking medical attention. A bandage would be enough. And besides, how would she explain a bite like that?

_Yeah, I had sex with someone who can turn into a dog and she bit me._

Krista rolled her eyes at herself. Like anyone would believe that. She would probably be given medication for mental illness.

Eventually she arrived at her university and parked in the nearest empty space closest to the building. She now had English and Literature, and Petra took the class with her. That was another reason Krista wasn't too keen on venturing out into the world that morning. She would have to see Petra, and Petra would see her, and her red, puffy eyes, pink nose, trembling lip and the way her hands shook.

Explanations would surely be demanded, and then somehow Krista would have to either deter her concern or find a way to explain it off.

_What if I told her?_ Krista thought. _What if I just tell Petra about everything? I've been alone in this for a long time now and right now I can't handle it on my own anymore. She might think I'm crazy, but just maybe… maybe she'll humour me enough to listen._ Krista sighed. _Either way, I'll sound like an idiot. I am an idiot._

Deciding not to talk to herself any longer and to stop with the procrastinating, Krista fixed her appearance one more time and then hopped out of her car. She slowly made her way through the double doors and down the hall towards her destination. Along the way she tried to convince herself to turn around and leave, but her conscience got the best of her and she forced her feet forward. What good would running away do? School wouldn't wait for her, so she had to press on.

"Oh, hey cuz!" Petra waved excitedly from where she had just exited the bathroom and jogged over to Krista, who was fidgeting uncomfortably, hiding behind her hair and staring at the ground.

"M-morning…" She managed to utter softly, though her throat constricted and her chest tightened.

Petra's smile dropped from her face and she took a good look at her cousin. Krista looked uncomfortable and there was slight tremble to the fabric of her clothing. What was going on?

"What happened Krista? What's wrong?" Krista shook her head and bit her tongue. If she attempted to reply she would burst out crying. "You're really starting to worry me. What happened?" Petra pulled Krista into her arms, but that only worsened the situation and pushed Krista over the last edge of her control.

Feeling the familiar, comforting arms encircle her, and wishing they were a longer, stronger pair, Krista sniffled once and then released a broken sob that echoed down the hall. Her shoulders began to shake and she buried her face against Petra's shoulder as she grabbed fistfuls of her shirt.

"Whoa now, tears?" Petra gently guided them over to the closest bench and helped Krista sit down. "Talk to me." Krista merely started to sob harder, her voice sounding pitchy and thick with emotion. "Or you can cry…" Petra furrowed her brows and patted Krista's head with one hand as she gave her back a soothing rub with the other.

After a long while of Krista's sorrowful crying she managed to calm down enough to just quiet tears, and rested heavily against her cousin's warm side.

"Better?" Petra asked softly. Krista nodded. "Now what hurt you enough to make you cry so hard? I don't think I've ever seen you cry like that before. Actually, I've never seen you cry at all before."

Krista's trembling died down but her breathing remained heavy. The upset had made her shoulder ache more, making Krista clench her teeth in an attempt to distract her from the pain. "Y…" She ran her tongue over her dry lips and attempted to speak again. "Ymir broke my heart." The blonde stated simply, which was about the best summary of the situation she could give at present.

"Broke your heart? You really had a thing for her, huh?" Petra shifted their position and lifted Krista's face. "What did she do to break your little heart?"

Krista looked up into warm, accepting eyes and sniffled again. Tears pooled at her eyes once more and leaked out, falling down her face.

"Oi, what are you two doing out of class? The professor won't be impressed." One of the other professor's spoke up after noticing the two and walked up to them. When he got a look at Krista's face he cringed and frowned in worry. "On second thought, Petra, why don't you take her home? I'll let Pixis know that you have girl issues."

Petra smiled and thanked him. Why hadn't she thought about that in the first place?

"Krista, would you like to leave? You don't have to stay here and we can just go to my place. We can talk there, if you'd like."

Krista was about to refuse, but then she felt a wave of tears overcome her and simply nodded weakly and allowed Petra to pull her up and out of the building.

"We can go in my car and fetch yours later. I don't want you driving in this condition." Petra opened the passenger door of her car for Krista, helped her climb in and then clicked her seatbelt into place. Krista looked so out of it that she barely even noticed, and just slumped to the side and rested her head against the window when Petra closed the door.

The ride was quite, and Petra kept glancing over at Krista in worry every few minutes. But they made it and with some coaxing Petra got Krista inside, wrapped in a blanket and settled comfortably on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands.

"When you're ready, and if you want to, we can talk." Petra said gently from her seat beside Krista on the couch. She kept a hand on her back and softly rubbed it up and down in comfort, and it seemed to help Krista remain partially calm. She still looked like she was struggling to breathe and struggling to keep from crying.

"Thank you." Krista whispered. Her hands slackened around the cup and she kept a dull, lifeless stare into the steamy, brown liquid. It didn't look appetising and she really didn't feel like putting anything in her stomach. In fact, she felt sick.

"I won't press you for answers, but I'm really worried about you cuz. No matter what it is, you can talk to me about it." When Krista nodded Petra gave her hair a playful ruffle. "Now you drink that and warm yourself up while I take a shower. I was late this morning so I never got around to it, and since we get to skip school today I might as well." Petra gave her a gentle squeeze on the shoulder, her uninjured one thankfully, and disappeared into the other side of the house.

Krista watched her go and released a sigh. If it wasn't for Petra's concern and comfort Krista knew that she would have been worse off in the sense of emotional sanity. At least she felt a tiny bit better. Not much, and hardly anything to write home about, but slightly better nonetheless. She would tell her eventually, when the insistent burning tug at her chest ceased and she could breathe normally again. For now Krista focused on forcing the hot chocolate down, grimacing at the unwelcomed rumble of her stomach. When everything had been drained she stood up, blanket puddling on the couch, and took the cup into the kitchen, only to feel her breath come short and her heart clench painfully.

She remembered meeting Ymir in her human form for the first time, in her kitchen. For some reason a kitchen strongly reminded her of the brunette, and a flash of golden iris from the previous night glowed in front of Krista's eyes and then dimmed. Her body hummed warmly, but her heart thrummed in pain. She longed so desperately to see that passionate, smouldering gaze again. It was a gaze that burned through her with love. Could Ymir really have faked that, or was she being stupidly stubborn again?

Krista hoped with all of her heart that it was merely the brunette's inability to accept anyone into her heart. But even if it was that, the blonde felt that she could no longer stand underneath that fire. After falling so damn hard – because she had, she fell so deeply in love – and suffering the most agonizing heartbreak of her life, she was scared to put herself in the position of suffering more of it. She loved Ymir, but if the brunette changed her mind and decided to be honest, she would have to be the one to make the first move and initiate anything. Krista wouldn't, because she couldn't anymore.

"Krista? Where'd you wonder off to?" Petra called from the lounge.

Had she really been lost in thought that long? "I'm here!" Krista walked back into the lounge, still feeling terrible but confident that she would be able to speak now. "Petra, uh… I… I think I can talk about it now…"

Petra's smile dropped in concern. "Are you sure? I won't demand it."

Krista nodded and sat down on the couch. "It's a long story, and you're the first person I'm telling it to."

Petra's eyebrow cocked up and she seated herself beside the solemn blonde. "Oh?"

"You know Ymir, but you don't know the truth about her." Krista took a deep breath and curled her hands together against her chest. "The first time I met her was when she jumped out in front of my car during a rain storm. I nearly hit her but stopped just in time, and I took her home." Petra tilted her head in confusion, not understanding how that could make sense or how it applied here, but bit her tongue and waited. "I took the husky home and fed it, but I woke up at midnight and found Ymir in my kitchen, naked. She's that husky you told me about, the one I 'found'. We don't know how or who did it, but somehow Ymir has been cursed and she turns into a dog and–"

"Wait, wait, wait. Give me a second here. She _turns_ into a _dog_? How is that possible?"

Krista shrugged and winced at the tug at her wounds. "I don't know, I really don't. But it's true, I've seen it with my own eyes."

"Okay, so the tall hottie turns into a mutt, what happened with her to turn you into this mess?"

Krista sniffled. "From the first day I felt attracted to her, and over time it deepened and I fell in love. She kissed me, because I guess this curse is messing her body up. Oh, she got fevers every night." Petra's eyes were quite wide after hearing the attraction part. "But we started investigating possible suspects, her past lovers, to see if any of them were the ones that had cursed her – she has many, and most of them hate her. I saw how she left each one after having sex with them." Petra nearly fell off of the couch when her innocent, prudish, naïve cousin said the word 'sex' so carelessly. "I wanted to be that intimate with her, I really did. Especially after that kiss. It was like she had a constant invisible hand around my heart. But I was scared. I love her and I never wanted her to leave me after getting what she wanted. We got really close, though, and she stopped being so difficult and started letting me into her heart. And last night we… we…" Krista blushed, finally realizing the topic she was now touching on, of what Ymir had been touching on…

"Don't tell me…" Petra covered her mouth with her hands.

"We… we did it. We made love. It happened so fast that I never had time to think it through, and by the time she had me against the w-wall in the passage my mind was already blank and all I could understand was her." The burn in her heart was two-fold. It hurt, but the memory of their wonderful moment was a precious, beautiful one. "She even bit me, and seeing this might make you believe me." Hesitantly Krista exposed her shoulder and then peeled the bandage back, showing her puncture wounds.

Petra gasped. "Oh my… Krista! That's… I've never seen a bite like that." Petra scooted closer and gently got a grip on Krista's shoulder. She leaned down and examined the bites carefully. She deduced that a dog could have done that, but the bites were spaced too closely together to be from a dog's long jaw. It looked… human, with a twist. "This doesn't prove it, but it makes me almost believe it. Does it hurt?"

Krista nodded. "It aches so bad now. When I woke up last night it didn't hurt that much, though, not even when she bit me."

"But why would she bite you?" Krista shrugged and Petra looked off into space as she thought about it. There was a certain possibility. "Well, if what you're saying is true… then I think she marked you."

"Marked me?"

"Yeah, like put a physical mark on you that says 'she's mine'. She claimed you."

Krista quickly covered her shoulder and lightly rested her hand over it. "I don't think that's it…"

"But wait," Petra held her hands up, her face set in shock. "You had sex with a dog?!"

Krista blinked. "What?! I… No!"

"But you said she's been turned into a dog. How…?" Petra scrunched her eyebrows together.

"She turns back into a human every midnight until three. We don't know why it's like that either, but I guess it's the rules of her curse, or something."

"And what if your feelings are one of these rules?" Petra asked after quickly shaking her shock off. "What if the curse is that anyone close to her will be physically attracted to her, and fall in love? I mean, if you say that her exes hate her then they know about her commitment issues…"

Krista's eyes widened slightly. "That… but no, I… I love her. I don't care if it's because of the curse or not. I feel so bound to her. And that's why this hurts me so much."

"She rejected you, didn't she?"

Krista nodded. "This morning I hoped things had changed and she would admit her feelings, but she came home after going back to her house and acted like what we had meant nothing. She said some really hurtful things to my face and I… I escaped because I don't know how to handle it." Krista started tearing up and sniffled loudly. "I-I-I love her but she d-doesn't love me and it h-hurts."

Petra quickly pulled Krista into her arms and let the blonde cry on her shoulder. "Shhh, you cry it out. I'm sure there's a reason. Did you tell her how you feel?"

"N-n-not directly."

"Then why don't you see how she acts around you during this week and confront her about it if you feel there's a chance? I'm not saying that it's true, but she might feel the same and is just scared too."

Krista started to sob. "W-why would she love s-someone like me? She was right when she said that!"

Petra felt a twitch of anger start in her brow and pushed her rage down so that she could comfort Krista. That Ymir better be in some stupid form of 'she'll be better without me' belief instead of actually not loving Krista, or Petra was going to seriously confront her with a shaking fist. Dog curse or not.

"Look, you're an amazing girl and I bet she knows it. Do what I said and wait it out, let things cool down and then have a serious, adult talk with her. Ask her what she really feels and look into her eyes when she answers. You'll see if she's honest or not."

Krista calmed and yawned. "Okay."

Petra applied a loving kiss to her forehead and then moved her back to look her in the eyes. "I know it's still early, but you did a lot of crying. Go to sleep, you can stay the night and I'll drop you off tomorrow. Is that alright?"

Krista nodded. "Thank you. I don't think I could face her right now anyway."

"Thought so. Get in my bed and don't come out until you stop looking like a zombie. And when I get back from my part-time job I'll make something for us to eat."

Krista nodded lamely and dragged her feet as she made her way to Petra's room, per her order. As she went the older blonde watched her go with a small smile, but concerned eyes.

"Oh Krista, you just had to have a fiery first love. What am I going to do with you?"

XxX

Hours later, in the very early hours of the morning, Ymir stumbled down the passage breathing heavily and sweating. Her body, naked from her earlier transformation back into a human – after Krista had left, Ymir had returned to her husky body – glistened in the moonlight pouring in through the windows and down the hall. She grabbed at her chest, stumbling forward once more, and mentally begged her lungs to work faster.

When she neared the master bedroom, there was only one thought on her mind as she felt her chest tighten painfully and quickly grabbed the doorframe to prevent her near fall.

"Krista." Ymir uttered painfully. "Krista!"

Her body trembled with uncontrolled anger as well as anguish and turmoil.

_I'm such an idiot._

_You shouldn't love her._

_But she's so wonderful, I shouldn't let her get away._

_But you fucking can't love her._

_I LOVE HER._

_There is no place for love in your life._

_But I want there to be a place for her._

_She'll find someone else, someone better._

_I don't want her with anyone else!_

_YOU DON'T LOVE HER._

_I… I don't love her._

_But you know that's a lie._

"Shut up!" Ymir screamed, voice thick and husky, too deep. "SHUT THE HELL UP!" She roared furiously, hand tightening dangerously around the wooden doorframe. With her free hand she covered the side of her face, covering one of her red, crimson eyes.

_Krista, _"Krista…" _Krista! _"KRISTA!"

With another anguished roar, Ymir's hand tightened and the wood underneath her fingertips cracked and splintered.

Exhausted, in pain and running a dangerously high fever, Ymir dropped to her knees and stared at the floor with wide, shocked and worried eyes.

"Krista, why didn't you come back? Where are you?"


End file.
